Inappropriate Affair Not Reason for Firing
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A local court has ordered a ward office in North Jeolla Province to annul its decision to dismiss a civil servant for having an affair with a female worker during work hours.
The unidentified public servant left his office with the female junior worker around 4 p.m. Aug. 16 in 2007 to drink. They went to a motel afterward, where her husband caught them.
The civil servant filed the suit after the ward office dismissed him for not maintaining his integrity as a public worker and leaving his office during work hours.
``He left his office about two hours before work had finished, which did not disturb the office. An official reprimand would have served as an appropriate punishment,'' the court said.
``He may face social and ethical criticism for having an affair with his junior. But he is a civil servant of a local ward office, whose duties do not include high-mindedness in private, so a wage cut may be also be due punishment,'' it added.
The court said the total punishment shouldn't be heavier than ``suspension from duty,'' saying dismissal was too harsh.