"Will They Cause an Accident While Driving Kids?" Harsh Remarks... Dismissal of Kindergarten Bus Driver Official Upheld

Swearing at Colleagues and Badmouthing Parents... Ultimately Dismissed
Claimed "Workplace Bullying" and Filed a Lawsuit but Lost

A court ruling upheld the dismissal of a kindergarten bus driver public official who engaged in slander against students and parents, as well as severe verbal abuse and threats toward colleagues. The official claimed that the situation arose due to being ignored and ostracized by colleagues, but this was not accepted.

The Chuncheon District Court Administrative Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Sun-hee) announced on the 5th that it ruled against Mr. A in his lawsuit seeking to cancel his dismissal filed against the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education.

Mr. A, who was a kindergarten bus driver employed by the local education support office, sent violent text messages containing severe profanity and threats to four colleagues on January 18, 2021. He even mentioned the families of his colleagues, threatening, "I will not leave you alone," and slandered the parents of kindergarten students.

Additionally, over two days, he contacted staff a total of 289 times via phone calls and text messages. During an audit period, he failed to attend three times without valid reasons. He also left his workplace without permission after applying for overtime and secretly copied and kept the office keys without colleagues' knowledge.

Previously, Mr. A had made statements such as "Is it okay to swear at the children?" and "I want to crash the bus into a tree while driving the kids."

The photo is not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Ultimately, Mr. A received a summary order fine of 1 million KRW and was dismissed for threatening colleagues. However, he appealed the disciplinary action to the Office of Education's Review Committee, which dismissed his appeal, and then filed an administrative lawsuit against the superintendent.

In court, Mr. A reportedly denied all grounds for disciplinary action. He claimed that the 289 contacts were to report vehicle repairs and argued, "This happened because of being ignored, unfair treatment, and group ostracism by colleagues." He also stated, "Although I said I would swear at the children or wanted to cause an accident, the intent and context were distorted."

However, the court dismissed Mr. A's claim. It found the colleagues' testimonies to be very detailed and specific, thus sufficiently credible.

The court also regarded the slander against parents and inappropriate remarks toward the children as acts that do not respect the children's dignity or constitute violent language, considering them socially condemnable behavior.

The court explained, "The disadvantages the plaintiff suffers from dismissal are not heavier than the public interest achieved through the punishment, such as ensuring public officials comply with laws and enhancing social trust in public officials."

It added, "The education authorities' investigation concluded that there was no group ostracism in the workplace as claimed by Mr. A."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.