'Pyeongchang Silver Medalist' Former National Athlete Wins Lawsuit for Reassessment of Disability Grade

Seoul Administrative Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A silver medalist at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics won an administrative lawsuit after requesting an increase in the disability rating for an injury sustained during training.

On the 3rd, Judge Im Seongmin of the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 6, recently ruled in favor of plaintiff A, a former national team athlete, in the first trial of the lawsuit filed against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service seeking cancellation of the disability rating decision.

Previously, in 2014, A suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament when his left knee buckled during training. In 2017, he fell forward during training and also tore the posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee joint.

In 2019, A filed a claim for disability benefits related to both accidents. That year, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service assessed the disability as Grade 12 for each leg, stating under the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act that "a person with dysfunction in one of the three major joints of one leg" qualifies. Compensation was paid accordingly. Approximately 18 million KRW was paid as a lump-sum disability compensation for the left leg, and about 23 million KRW for the right leg.

A disagreed with this assessment and filed an administrative lawsuit. The Enforcement Rule of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act recognizes a complete ligament rupture as Grade 8 disability, and A argued that since he cannot properly use his right knee joint due to the injury, his rating should be upgraded accordingly.

The court partially accepted A's claim and ruled that the disability rating should be raised above Grade 12. However, since the ligament was not completely ruptured and daily life is possible without an orthosis, the court deemed it appropriate to upgrade the rating to Grade 10.

Neither A nor the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service appealed, so the first trial ruling was finalized as is.