First Civil Ruling on Employers Without Obligation to Prevent Harassment Being Illegal... "Broaden Workers and Employers"

The Supreme Court has issued a final ruling recognizing, for the first time, the civil tort liability of an employer who failed to fulfill the obligation to prevent workplace harassment.

According to the judgment disclosed by Workplace Bullying 119 on the 26th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) dismissed the appeal filed by Konkuk University Foundation on the 17th regarding the case of golf course caddie A, who died in 2020 due to workplace harassment.

A had worked at a golf course operated by Konkuk University since July 2019 and suffered continuous harassment from a superior before passing away in September 2020. The bereaved family filed a lawsuit seeking damages against the university foundation and the manager, and in February last year, the Civil Division 1 of the Goyang Branch of Uijeongbu District Court ordered compensation of approximately 170 million KRW to the family. Appeals and further appeals filed by the university foundation were also dismissed.

Workplace Bullying 119 emphasized, "This is the first Supreme Court ruling recognizing the civil tort liability of an employer who received labor from a special employment worker but failed to fulfill the obligation to prevent workplace harassment."

However, the bereaved family’s claim that caddie A was a worker under the Labor Standards Act was not accepted, with the explanation that "special employment and platform workers are formally classified as self-employed or individual business owners, but in reality, they are subordinate to the employer, and the Labor Standards Act does not define them as workers."

Workplace Bullying 119 stated that although the Supreme Court ruling acknowledged the employer’s negligence in management and supervision regarding the special employment worker who died from workplace harassment, the provisions of the Labor Standards Act prohibiting workplace harassment still do not apply to them.

Workplace Bullying 119 argued, "The Labor Standards Act should be amended to broaden the concepts of workers and employers so that special employment workers or platform workers can receive legal protection."