Bucheon Kindergarten Teacher's Death From Flu Recognized as an 'On-Duty Disaster'—What Are the Legal Reasons?

A case interview with Attorney Jeong Jun of Daeryun LLC

A kindergarten teacher in her 20s who continued working despite suffering a high fever from the flu at a private kindergarten in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, and then died, has been recognized as having suffered an on-duty disaster. The Korea Teachers Pension (the Private School Teachers Pension Corporation) held a benefits deliberation council and approved the on-duty survivors' benefit claimed by the bereaved family. The teacher is known to have gone to work despite being diagnosed with the flu—due to a shortage of substitute personnel and a kindergarten atmosphere in which taking annual leave was difficult—and then died as her symptoms worsened.

This decision is a meaningful case showing that even a personal illness with an unclear infection route can be recognized as an on-duty disaster if the course of duty and a poor working environment had a decisive influence on the illness's aggravation. Together with Attorney Jeong Jun of Daeryun LLC, we examine the legal issues and the basis for the judgment in this case.

Q1. What legal significance does this decision hold?

▲ It is highly significant in that it clearly distinguished the 'cause of onset' and the 'cause of aggravation' of the illness in its judgment. The flu infection itself can be viewed as a personal illness for which it is hard to clearly specify whether she was infected by the children. However, if she was unable to receive proper treatment and rest in the course of performing her duties, so that her condition sharply deteriorated and led to death, this can be recognized as an 'on-duty disaster' protected under the Private School Teachers Pension Act, or an occupational disaster prescribed under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act. It carries great implications, especially in that it broadly recognized the influence that the structural environment of the education field, such as staff shortages, had on the teacher's health deterioration.

Q2. There was enough dispute that the deliberation was once deferred. In a death case caused by illness, what is the review standard the corporation or the court examines most closely when judging whether it is an 'on-duty disaster'?

▲ The core is the 'substantial causal relationship' between the work and the illness's onset or aggravation. The Supreme Court, too, holds that the work need not be the sole cause of the illness's onset or aggravation, and that even if multiple factors overlapped, an on-duty disaster (occupational disaster) is established if the work acted as a substantial cause of the illness's aggravation. Therefore, in this matter, it appears the substantial causal relationship was recognized by comprehensively reviewing the circumstances that forced her to continue working after diagnosis, the environment in which taking sick leave was practically impossible, and the degree of the work burden.

Q3. If an illness worsened because the use of sick leave or annual leave was restricted due to staff shortages or a coercive atmosphere within the organization, can the employer be held liable for punishment or compensation?

▲ There is a possibility of holding them legally liable. Article 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act imposes on the employer a duty to maintain and improve workers' safety and health. If the employer, despite recognizing the teacher's critical health condition, in effect forced attendance or unfairly restricted rest and thereby aggravated the illness, liability for damages for a 'breach of the duty of safety consideration' under civil law may be recognized. However, being recognized as an on-duty disaster does not immediately mean the employer's civil and criminal liability is established 100%; there must be supporting concrete proof of a separate unlawful act, such as the employer's intent or negligence, and of the causal relationship.

Q4. As in this case, when a disaster occurs because an illness worsened due to the workplace's labor environment or work pressure, what should be prepared first to be recognized as an 'on-duty disaster'?

▲ Securing the 'objective circumstances' that forced her to continue working while dragging along a sick body is the top priority. Ultimately the issue is proving how much the excessive work environment influenced the illness's aggravation. Therefore, the key is to meticulously collect materials showing that the worker's right to rest was practically restricted—such as sick-leave application records or circumstances of refusal, message records exchanged with superiors and colleagues, records of excessive work instructions, and commuting records.

Q5. To prevent future disasters caused by infringement of teachers' health rights at private educational institutions and to prevent legal risk, what system should management first build?

▲ The most urgent thing is to create a structural environment in which teachers can rest without pressure when they are sick. The system must be reorganized so that the annual leave guaranteed by the Labor Standards Act and the sick leave stipulated in employment rules and the like can actually function. In addition, by establishing a response manual for infectious disease spread, building a substitute-personnel pool, and setting up an active operation system, a safe educational environment must be created in which teachers can fully exercise their health rights without fear of disadvantage.

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Bucheon Kindergarten Teacher's Death From Flu Recognized as an 'On-Duty Disaster'—What Are the Legal Reasons? (Go to Article)