New Labor Inspector Who Died After Suffering Malicious Complaints Recognized as 'Duty-Related Death'

A new labor inspector who ended their life by suicide after suffering from malicious complaints has been recognized as having died in the line of duty.

[Photo by Beopryul Newspaper]

The Public Officials Disaster Compensation Review Committee of the Ministry of Personnel Management approved the official line-of-duty death of Mr. A, who worked as a labor inspector at a certain branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and passed away last month.

Mr. A was a newly hired labor inspector in his mid-30s who joined last year and was responsible for handling numerous complaint cases. During the process of handling a relief application related to an unfair dismissal filed by a complainant, Mr. A confirmed that the same complaint had been submitted separately to the Local Labor Relations Commission and the Labor Improvement Guidance Division as a relief application and a request for payment of dismissal notice allowance, respectively. Mr. A judged that the Local Labor Relations Commission would handle the case and informed the complainant that the matter was closed. However, the complainant opposed Mr. A’s unilateral closure of the case and demanded punishment for Mr. A. When the labor office issued a ‘cautionary warning’ to Mr. A, the complainant accused Mr. A and his superiors of dereliction of duty and reported them to the prosecution, claiming the punishment was too lenient. Mr. A suffered from guilt and distress, believing that his superiors were also being harmed because of him, and tragically took his own life in May.

Mr. A’s family requested the Disaster Compensation Review Committee to recognize Mr. A as a public official who died in the line of duty under the Public Officials Disaster Compensation Act. Shin Sang-min (38, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 42), a lawyer from the law firm A&Lab representing the family, argued, “Mr. A’s suicide was clearly an act committed under severe work-related stress and mental anguish related to official duties, which significantly impaired his normal cognitive abilities. Therefore, a sufficient causal relationship between the work Mr. A performed and his death is recognized.” Accepting the family’s claim, the review committee acknowledged Mr. A’s death as in the line of duty.

The current Public Officials Disaster Compensation Act generally does not recognize deaths by self-harm as work-related injuries. However, it stipulates that if the self-harm was committed under a mental abnormality clearly caused by work-related reasons that significantly impaired normal cognitive abilities, it may be considered a work-related injury. Article 5, Paragraph 1-3 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act states that a work-related injury may be recognized if there is a substantial causal relationship that the self-harm was committed under a mental abnormality caused by official duties or work-related reasons.

In the past, the Supreme Court also ruled that even if suicide occurred during the performance of official duties, it can be recognized as a work-related injury if a substantial causal relationship between the work and death is established. In June 2015, the Supreme Court made such a ruling in a case where Mr. A, serving as a reserve forces local commander, committed suicide after suffering from sleep disorders and depression caused by work stress (Case No. 2011Du32898).

※ If you or someone around you is struggling with difficult issues such as depression, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline ☎1393, Mental Health Counseling ☎1577-0199, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, Youth Hotline ☎1388, the youth mobile counseling app ‘Da Deureojul Gae,’ KakaoTalk, and other services.

Hong Yoon-ji, Reporter for Legal Times

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.