An employee who was fired following unfair instructions... Law “Recognition of unfair dismissal”

Allegations of violation of duties and active participation in management breach of trust... “I just followed instructions”
- The court said, “It cannot be seen that he was actively involved in breach of trust…Dismissal is an excessive disciplinary action.”

An employee who was fired for causing damage to the company by following management's unfair instructions was ruled unfairly dismissed by the court.

On the 10th of last month, the 14th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by A, a man in his 50s, against transportation company B to cancel the unfair dismissal sanctions judgment.

Mr. A received notice of dismissal from Company B in 2023 for violating his duties and engaging in breach of trust. At the time, the executives pursued a contract to lend funds to affiliates, but Mr. A caused losses to the company by obeying their unreasonable instructions without securing appropriate collateral.

Mr. A claimed unfair dismissal and applied for relief from the Local Labor Relations Commission, but it was rejected. He also requested a retrial from the Central Labor Relations Commission, but it was dismissed again on the grounds that “reasons for disciplinary action exist and the penalty is appropriate.” Accordingly, Mr. A filed an administrative lawsuit to cancel the retrial decision.

During the trial, Mr. A argued that the company's disciplinary action was excessive. He said that he was notified of the decisions made by the previous management and the board of directors and only followed instructions, but because he was not aware of the specific circumstances, it was difficult to determine that it was a breach of trust.

The court ruled in Mr. A’s favor. First, the court explained, “It is difficult to justify that the plaintiff, who is in charge of the business, followed the management’s decision without sufficiently reviewing or raising issues about the risks of lending, bond collateral, and collection plans,” and added, “The retrial ruling that he violated his professional duty not to respond to unreasonable instructions is reasonable.”

However, the court said, “As a reason for disciplinary action, the company points out that the plaintiff participated in the breach of trust by former executives, but it is difficult to say that the plaintiff devised or directly proposed an illegal means.” He added, “It is reasonable to believe that the reason for disciplinary action is recognized only to the extent of violation of job duties, excluding active participation in the act of breach of trust, so dismissal is an excessively excessive disciplinary action.”

Lee Ki-eun, a lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm who represented Mr. A, explained, “According to social norms, a dismissal is justified only when the worker is responsible to the extent that the employment relationship cannot continue, and this is judged by comprehensively considering the motive and circumstances of the misconduct and the status of the worker.” He added, “At the time, Mr. A was not directly involved in the management’s decision-making, and the difficulty of handling work contrary to orders was accepted due to his position, so it could be recognized as an excessive disciplinary action.”

Reporter Kim Jong-cheol (jckim99@sportsseoul.com)

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Employee fired for following unfair instructions... Law “Recognition of unfair dismissal” (link)