A civil servant who received entertainment from persons related to his duties and commuted to work hundreds of times in a vehicle driven by a subordinate filed an administrative lawsuit to contest his demotion, but lost the case.
According to Yonhap News, on the 10th, the Incheon District Court Administrative Division 1-1 (Presiding Judge Kim Sungsoo) ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by civil servant A from Ongjin County, Incheon, seeking to overturn the demotion imposed by the county governor.
According to the report, from September 2019 to June 2023, A received entertainment such as meals, alcohol, and nightlife worth a total of 1.37 million won on 41 occasions from executives and employees of a forestry business contractor related to his duties. This was discovered by the Board of Audit and Inspection. Additionally, from January 2021 to February 2023, it was found that A, using his position as a department head, commuted to and from work 332 times in a car driven by a subordinate. In September 2022, A used an official vehicle, the forestry disaster response command car, to visit his hometown in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and then had a subordinate pay for the fuel costs.
In June of last year, the Incheon City Personnel Committee decided to demote A and imposed an additional disciplinary fine of 4.12 million won (three times the amount of entertainment received). Demotion is a harsher penalty than suspension, which was the disciplinary action requested by the Board of Audit and Inspection after its investigation of A.
The personnel committee explained, "The amount of entertainment received from persons related to his duties exceeded 1 million won, and the misconduct was continuous and repeated," adding, "He habitually received private labor using his position without providing any compensation."
However, A argued, "The meals and drinking sessions were unrelated to my official duties, and the actual amount of entertainment received was only 820,000 won, which constitutes mere negligence," and "For commuting, I only 'carpooled' at the suggestion and kindness of my subordinate." He filed the administrative lawsuit in November of last year.
However, the court ruled, "There is no difficulty in recognizing the executives and employees who provided entertainment to A as persons related to his duties, and there is ample evidence of intent or gross negligence." The court further stated, "The subordinate who drove A to and from work was unable to easily refuse because A was his superior and evaluator," and explained, "A held a position that required a high level of legal compliance and integrity, yet continued to engage in misconduct."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
