"개처럼 짖어봐" Spitting on Face and Verbal Abuse... Habitual Bullying Resident Ordered to Pay 45 Million Won Compensation

Civil Court Orders Compensation of 20 Million Won Per Person

A resident who continuously verbally abused and bullied apartment management staff has been ordered by the court to pay 45 million KRW in damages to the victims.

According to the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 on the 27th, the Seoul Western District Court Civil Division 13 (Judge Lee Ah-young) ruled on August 28 that resident A must pay 20 million KRW each in mental damages to the head of the management office B and management office employee C. Additionally, since A repeatedly demanded the resident representative chairman D to dismiss the victims, this was also interpreted as a form of harassment, and A was ordered to pay 5 million KRW in damages.

Previously, since 2019, A has been accused of verbally abusing, cursing, and issuing unfair orders to security guards, cleaners, and management office workers, causing about ten workers to quit. A instructed security guards to patrol the smoking area every 10 minutes, ordered cleaning of the commercial building’s air conditioners and personal package deliveries, and filed complaints about negligence threatening to make them quit if they did not comply.

In particular, A continuously subjected B to severe verbal abuse such as "Take your dead parents out of their graves" and "Bark like a dog." When B, unable to endure it any longer, reported the abuse to the police, A went to B, spat on B’s face, cursed, and caused a disturbance. A also threatened management office employee C, who testified as a victim, with words implying "If you come out tomorrow, I will kill you." Furthermore, A filed lawsuits against residents who helped the victims and media outlets that reported the incident, and also sued the victims’ lawyer for defamation. In 2021, A filed a damage claim against the victims, but these were all dismissed in April and September of last year and January of this year.

The Seoul Western District Court sentenced A, who was indicted for assault and violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory threats), to one year in prison with a two-year probation and 80 hours of community service. For charges of insult and obstruction of business, A was sentenced to four months in prison with a two-year probation, which was later reduced to a one-year probation in the second trial. Subsequently, in the civil trial last August, the court ordered A to pay up to 20 million KRW per person, totaling 45 million KRW in damages.

The court explained, "It is evident from experience that the plaintiffs suffered severe mental shock due to the defendant’s criminal acts," and added, "(A’s filing of lawsuits against the victims) appears to have been intended to harass the plaintiffs beyond the normal exercise of the right to sue."

Workplace Bullying 119 stated, "In this case, all victims are alive, and despite the perpetrator being a single resident, the court ruled that damages totaling 45 million KRW must be paid to the victims," emphasizing, "Resident bullying is not only subject to criminal punishment but also confirmed as a serious illegal act." They added, "To eradicate resident bullying, improvements to existing laws and systems are absolutely necessary."