JIPYONG LLC

An employee (the “Senior Employee”) of a company instructed a junior employee at a dinner and drinks with a business partner. After the Senior Employee left, the business partner committed a crime of sexual violence against the junior employee. The company held a disciplinary committee and dismissed the Senior Employee. However, the Senior Employee sought relief at the Labor Relations Commission disputing the ground for dismissal and arguing that the dismissal was excessive as a disciplinary action.

The Labor Relations Commission decisions were reversed a number of times up to the court of first instance as to whether the dismissal was justified. Jipyong represented the company at the appellate level, explained the justification for the dismissal, and argued that the dismissal was unavoidable as a disciplinary action in this case. The Seoul High Court therefore reversed the lower court’s decision which was rendered for the Senior Employee. The court found that the Senior Employee assumed the duty to help the junior employee safely return home, once becoming aware that the junior employee was intoxicated and not fully conscious, yet failed to take any actions and left as a result of which the junior employee suffered from sexual violence. The court found that such an act of the Senior Employee was clearly unreasonable and extremely unconscious. The Seoul High Court accepted the arguments of the company that the company can no longer maintain the employment relationship, and held that the dismissal as a disciplinary action was justified.