"Acting as a Driver, Serving Executives, and Other Duties...
Psychological Pressure"
The internal investigation committee of Yeongju City, Gyeongbuk Province, which examined whether workplace harassment was involved in the death of a Grade 6 team leader who was a public official, concluded that "workplace harassment is recognized."
The funeral of a Yeongju city official who died last November in the morning at a parking lot in front of Yeongju City Hall, Gyeongbuk, was held. Yonhap News
According to data received by Lee Sang-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from Yeongju City on the 20th, the 'Yeongju City Workplace Harassment Investigation Committee' (Investigation Committee) stated in the 'Team Leader A Workplace Harassment Investigation Report' submitted to Yeongju City on the 14th that "it concludes that workplace harassment is recognized." The committee was composed of two external certified labor attorneys commissioned by Yeongju City.
In the report, the committee noted, "The deceased was often made to attend events on behalf of others (not related to the deceased's duties), which forced the deceased to work overtime and come to work on weekends more frequently to complete their own tasks." It also stated, "The deceased had to act as a personal driver and was required to perform a ceremonial duty called 'serving the executives' during lunch hours on specific days, seriously damaging horizontal relationships in the workplace and causing psychological pressure."
A colleague who worked in the same department as the deceased testified to the committee that "the deceased received an unfair order to inflate the '2024 Civil Service Comprehensive Evaluation Data,' and a conflict arose when the deceased refused, saying they could not do it." Yeongju City had previously received the 'Minister of the Interior and Safety Award for Excellent Institution in National Happiness Civil Service Re-certification' and the 'Gyeongbuk Province Civil Service Administration Performance Evaluation Award.'
The committee stated, "After the incident involving the order to inflate data, the deceased team leader was excluded from work, and this was understood not as a simple one-time conflict but as part of systematic and repetitive harassment."
The person mentioned as the perpetrator told the committee, "I never excluded the team leader (the deceased) or took retaliatory personnel actions, nor did I ever order the modification of civil service data."
Based on the investigation results, Yeongju City plans to form a workplace harassment deliberation committee to decide on disciplinary actions against those involved.
Representative Lee Sang-sik said, "I urge Gyeongbuk Province, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and the Board of Audit and Inspection to conduct a high-intensity audit to prevent cases where civil service evaluations, implemented to enhance the capabilities of local governments nationwide, lead to fraud." He added, "We will institutionally review the system to ensure such fraudulent cases never occur again."
Meanwhile, Mr. A was found dead inside a car parked on a road in Munsu-myeon, Yeongju City, last November. The bereaved family has claimed that Mr. A was subjected to group harassment based on text messages left on his mobile phone.
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