"‘Resignation Delay Causes Damage’... 57 Residents File Compensation Lawsuit Against Training Hospitals"

Per Capita 15 Million Won, Total Claim Amount Reaches 855 Million Won

Resident doctors who resigned have filed a damages lawsuit against the national university hospitals where they received training, claiming that the processing of their resignation letters was delayed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to data received on the 15th by Baek Seung-ah, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from 10 national university hospitals, 57 resident doctors who resigned have each claimed 15 million KRW in damages from the national university hospitals where they worked. The targets of the claims are nine national university hospitals, including Seoul National University Hospital, with a total claim amounting to 855 million KRW.

The hospital with the highest number of resident doctors filing lawsuits was Chonnam National University Hospital with 16 people (claim amount 240 million KRW). This was followed by Seoul National University Hospital with 11 people (165 million KRW), Gangwon and Chungnam National University Hospitals with 8 people each (120 million KRW each), Pusan National University Hospital with 6 people (90 million KRW), Chungbuk National University Hospital with 3 people (45 million KRW), Jeju National University and Gyeongsang National University Hospitals with 2 people each (30 million KRW each), and Jeonbuk National University Hospital with 1 person (15 million KRW).

The litigation costs borne by each hospital are 58 million KRW for Gangwon National University and 25.3 million KRW for Seoul National University, among others. The remaining hospitals have not yet finalized their litigation response plans.

The resident doctors who filed the lawsuits argued that "the order prohibiting acceptance of resignation letters under Article 59 of the Medical Service Act and Article 15 of the Specialist Training Regulations is unlawful under Article 661 of the Civil Act and Article 7 of the Labor Standards Act, as it is not related to serious harm to public health." They stated that delays in processing their resignation letters by their affiliated hospitals caused damages by disrupting employment or opening private clinics.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of last month, out of 13,531 resident doctors, 11,732 (86.7%) had resigned. There is also a possibility that the outcome of this lawsuit could lead to a class-action lawsuit by resident doctors.