Plaintiff Wins Lawsuit to Overturn Disciplinary Action
"Undesirable, But Not Misconduct"
A court ruling has determined that a university professor engaging in a romantic relationship, including sexual activity, with a foreign student 18 years younger does not constitute grounds for disciplinary action.
According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul Administrative Court Division 1 made this judgment on the 14th in a lawsuit filed by Mr. A against the university faculty grievance committee seeking the cancellation of the committee's decision.
Mr. A was newly appointed as an assistant professor at the university in 2014, promoted to associate professor in 2020, and has been working there since.
During this time, recordings of conversations between Mr. A and a foreign graduate student under his doctoral supervision, text messages, and photos taken together on a bed at his home were made public.
The school foundation, following a resolution by the faculty disciplinary committee in April last year, imposed a one-month suspension on Mr. A. The reason was that he had formed an inappropriate relationship, including sexual activity, with a foreign student under his supervision, violating the obligation to maintain dignity as a faculty member. Mr. A filed an appeal with the faculty grievance committee on April 29 last year, but it was dismissed in August.
However, the court ruled in favor of Mr. A. The bench stated, "Beyond abstract suspicions, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the plaintiff used his superior position as a supervising professor to form a romantic relationship with the student." While the behavior may be reckless and undesirable, it is difficult to definitively classify it as misconduct that fails to maintain dignity while performing faculty duties.
As grounds, the court noted, "Both the plaintiff and the student are adults and unmarried, and the student, born in 1991, was about 30 years old, so it is hard to consider their experience and judgment regarding romantic relationships immature," adding, "There is no evidence that the student received special favors or that their academic work was affected due to the relationship."
Furthermore, the court explained, "While it is true that faculty members bear higher moral standards and stricter obligations to maintain dignity than ordinary professionals, it cannot be said that this case reached the level of misconduct involving failure to maintain dignity; therefore, the grounds for disciplinary action in this case do not exist."
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