"'School Violence False Accusation' Baseball Prospect? Judge Urges 'End Sports Team Practices' [Seocho-dong Legal Commentary]"

High School Baseball Team 'School Violence' Controversy Goes to Court
Perpetrator's Side Argues "Victim Does Not Want Disciplinary Action"
First Trial: "Admission Sports World Has Strong Hierarchy, Victims Find It Hard to Complain... Disciplinary Action Appropriate"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] January 2020. Prospective new members of a high school baseball team in Daegu met with their senior high school players just before graduating from middle school. Excited about joining the team, the seniors subjected them to 'eolchalyeo' (a form of physical punishment). One senior, who had touched the floor with his hand, hit the juniors with slippers. The reason for the harsh treatment was 'disrespecting the seniors.'

The school's dedicated school violence committee was convened. High school baseball prospect A was involved in this incident. He was identified as the 'senior holding the slippers.' However, the high school decided to close the matter internally. The perpetrators publicly apologized, and the victims and their parents did not want any punishment.

The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) intervened. Its Sports Fairness Committee decided to conduct a re-examination ex officio and held a meeting to notify A of disciplinary action on January 27 last year. He was suspended from eligibility for one year ahead of his senior year season.

A claimed he was wronged. At the end of last year, he gave an interview on a broadcasting station's news, saying, "The school labeled me as a 'school violence perpetrator' without verifying the facts, which was surprising." A's parents filed a lawsuit against KBSA seeking to nullify the disciplinary decision.

During the trial, A's side argued, "He only ordered the 'eolchalyeo' under the command of the baseball team captain senior and did not hit the juniors on the head." They also claimed that KBSA did not sufficiently investigate the facts, making the disciplinary action procedurally illegal. They emphasized that the victims did not want A to be disciplined.

The court did not accept these claims. According to the court on the 19th, the Civil Division 16 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Moon Seonggwan) recently ruled that KBSA's disciplinary action against A was appropriate.

The court judged that A initially admitted to the violent acts at the school's dedicated school violence committee and showed a remorseful attitude, and on the day of the disciplinary hearing, he appeared with his father before the committee and gave detailed statements about the timing, circumstances, and acts of the violence.

The court pointed out, "Even if such violent acts were customary within the baseball team and A followed the senior's orders, violence systematically carried out in school sports teams can cause irreparable harm to the physical and mental growth and career planning of the victims."

In particular, "Due to the nature of the entrance exam sports world, there is a strong hierarchical order between seniors and juniors, and there are practical constraints in reporting victimization," adding, "The fact that the victims and their parents do not want the plaintiff to be disciplined alone does not make this disciplinary action harsh."

The court also wrote the following in the judgment.

"Considering the social consensus on the need to eradicate violent acts that have been customarily repeated within the sports world, it cannot be said that the committee's disciplinary standards lack rationality."