A man in his 30s secretly recorded conversations with his boss to report abuse of power... National jurors unanimously acquit him

Secretly Recording Conversations as Evidence of Workplace Bullying

A public official in his 30s who was indicted on charges of secretly recording conversations with his superior for the purpose of reporting workplace harassment was acquitted.

The Criminal Division 11 of Daegu District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jong-gil) announced on the 15th that it delivered a not guilty verdict in a jury trial for Mr. A (36), an employee of a public institution in Gyeongbuk.

Mr. A began secretly recording conversations of his superior, Mr. B, who frequently used abusive language in the office, to collect evidence to report Mr. B for "workplace harassment."

In December 2021, Mr. A recorded on his mobile phone a conversation in the office where Mr. B expressed dissatisfaction to two employees about being disciplined over issues related to hiring new staff, while cursing the director and the head of the headquarters. In January of the following year, Mr. A reported Mr. B to the HR team for workplace harassment and submitted the transcript, leading to his indictment on charges of disclosing "private conversations between others" that had not been made public.

Mr. A's defense argued that the conversation was directed to all employees present in the office at the time, including Mr. A himself, so it did not constitute a private conversation between others that had not been disclosed. In the jury trial, all seven jurors unanimously delivered a not guilty verdict.

The court stated, "Based solely on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it is insufficient to recognize that the conversation at the time was a private conversation between others that had not been disclosed," and thus acquitted Mr. A.