Seoul Administrative Court in Seocho District / Korea Times file

A court ruled that sexual harassment occurring on the way home after a company gathering can be classified as an occupational injury. The decision highlights that incidents outside of regular working hours and spaces can still establish a causal link to work responsibilities.

Judge Shim Woong-bi of the Seoul Administrative Court sided with the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by a public servant against the Ministry of Personnel Management, according to legal sources on Thursday.

The public servant had challenged the ministry's decision to deny her claim for occupational medical care. The ruling was finalized on Dec. 20 after neither party appealed.

The plaintiff, a local government official, reported that she was subjected to unwanted physical contact by her supervisor early last year. The incident occurred on her way home following a dinner organized by her supervisor, who had suggested the gathering to help team members build connections across departments.

The Ministry of Personnel Management rejected the plaintiff's claim for occupational care, arguing that the dinner was not an official work-related event and that the supervisor's actions were a personal deviation unrelated to the plaintiff's professional duties.

The public servant, who developed post-traumatic stress disorder due to the harassment, filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision.

The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, overturning the Ministry of Personnel Management's decision and recognizing a causal link between workplace harassment and the public servant's occupational duties.

"The scope of workplace harassment is not limited to the workplace or working hours," Shim said, acknowledging that the stress-induced mental illness suffered by the plaintiff resulted from work-related factors.

The court found the ministry's dismissal of the dinner gathering as a nonwork event to be erroneous, citing that the meeting was proposed by the plaintiff's supervisor and included discussions on work-related matters, making it an extension of work.

The court said that the gathering was still work-related, and it cannot be excluded solely because the incident occurred after official working hours. "Commuting is closely tied to work in terms of labor provision, and harassment by a superior during the return from a department dinner can be deemed work-related," Shim said.

The court also noted the circumstances that left the plaintiff unable to decline the invitation as a newly hired employee, as well as the resulting stress she endured while continuing to work after the incident.

"Mental illness caused by workplace harassment stems from the inherent risks of workplace relationships and thus should be recognized as an occupational injury," Shim said in the ruling.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.