"Unfair Dismissal Disciplinary Action"... Defeated in Administrative Lawsuit
A public official who wandered naked in a hotel corridor, shaking the doorknobs of each room and claiming to have "sleepwalking" was fined and criminally punished, and subsequently dismissed from his job.
On the 29th, Yonhap News reported that the Chuncheon District Court Administrative Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Byung-chul) ruled against A (49) in a lawsuit he filed against the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Superintendent of Education seeking to cancel his dismissal.
On the night of July 24 last year, around 11:17 p.m., A was wandering naked in the corridor on the 3rd floor of a hotel in Inje-gun, Gangwon Province. He was prosecuted for publicly committing obscene acts by grabbing and shaking the doorknobs of rooms occupied by female B (36) and male C (43), knocking several times, and then running away to the emergency exit corridor.
At the time, when A tried to open a door, the victims asked, "Who are you?" A reportedly responded, "I'm sorry," and then attempted to open the door again. He continued to walk around, pulling the doorknobs of each room on the 3rd floor corridor.
Following the investigation, the provincial education office imposed a dismissal disciplinary action in February this year on A for violating the duty to maintain dignity. A filed an appeal against the disciplinary action, but after it was dismissed, he filed an administrative lawsuit.
In the administrative lawsuit, he argued that "the act was done while wandering to find a door in a drunken state" and that there was no disciplinary reason as he did not intend to satisfy sexual arousal.
The court dismissed A's claim, ruling that the level of discipline was within the disciplinary standards and that the provincial education office did not abuse or exceed its discretionary power. The court also judged that A's actions constituted obscene acts that went beyond causing embarrassment or discomfort to others, and considering that he was working at an elementary school at the time, which could seriously undermine public trust in the public service, it was reasonable to find that he violated the duty to maintain dignity.
Meanwhile, A was indicted on charges of public obscenity and attempted trespassing and was recently sentenced to a fine of 5 million won in the appellate court.
The first trial court also stated, "The defendant has no record of being treated for sleepwalking," and considered "the fact that the defendant left the room wearing sneakers despite having a bathroom in the room, traces of obscene acts in the room, that he was not intoxicated, and the testimony of the responding police officers that communication was smooth."
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