Police Officer Charged Overtime Pay for Having Sexual Relations with Mistress During Working Hours

Daegu Police Officer Files Lawsuit to Cancel Dismissal for Negligence
Similar Case in Jeonju Earlier... Court Rules "Disciplinary Action Lawful"

A court ruling has upheld the disciplinary action against a police officer who had sexual relations with his mistress during working hours and received overtime pay.

On the 31st, the Administrative Division 2 of Daegu District Court (Chief Judge Shin Heon-seok) dismissed the lawsuit filed by police officer A, who was dismissed for negligence at work, against the Gyeongbuk Police Agency head seeking to cancel the dismissal, according to Yonhap News Agency.

A was dismissed in February last year for neglecting duties and damaging dignity 47 times between September and December 2021, including having sexual relations with his mistress during working hours and leaving his workplace without permission.

He improperly received over 800,000 won in overtime pay by falsely claiming overtime allowances 17 times after meeting his mistress for dinner or sexual relations during overtime and then returning to the police station.

In addition, around November 2021, he was caught unauthorizedly accessing and viewing personal information by checking the vehicle his mistress used through the police internal inquiry program in his office.

A’s side argued, "Despite having a history of receiving various commendations, which should have been considered as grounds for reducing or exempting disciplinary responsibility, this was not taken into account, and the disciplinary action is excessively severe compared to the motive and degree of misconduct."

However, the court stated, "The disciplinary action cannot be seen as an abuse or deviation of discretion to the extent that it is excessively harsh on the plaintiff to the point of losing validity according to social norms."

It added, "The negligence lasted for three months, and the number of false overtime pay claims is not small, indicating the severity of the misconduct. Considering the period of service and commendation records, it appears that the disciplinary level was lowered from dismissal to termination."

Earlier, a similar case occurred in Jeonju, Jeonbuk Province. On the 24th, the 1st Administrative Division of Jeonju District Court (Chief Judge Kim Haeng-soon) ruled against police sergeant B in a lawsuit seeking to cancel a demotion filed against the Jeonbuk Police Agency.

B was demoted one rank after being caught maintaining inappropriate meetings over 518 times, including dating at a colleague’s house, from October 2018 to December 2020.

Additionally, B was reported to have fraudulently claimed overtime pay amounting to 5.96 million won by falsely reporting 237 instances of dating activities such as going to the movies or traveling as business trips.