South Korea’s Supreme Court on Jan. 28 sided with lower court rulings that KT’s decision to have a whistleblower dismissed from his position was illegal.
In April 2012, the whistleblower, only identified by his surname Lee, reported to an anti-corruption government agency that his company, KT, made illegal profits by charging higher than normal rates on phone calls and text messages made to vote for the New7Wonders of Nature.
Opponents of the S. Korean government’s two contentious labor guidelines, designed to make the rigid labor market more flexible, are basing their opposition on KT’s poor treatment of the whistleblower.
Jeju, the southernmost island of Korea, was one of the official finalists in the worldwide ‘New7Wonders of Nature’ campaign, a global poll to determine the new seven wonders of the natural world. At that time, KT informed potential voters that “Your vote for Jeju as a ‘New7Wonders of Nature’ can be made online or over the phone (an international phone call)”, but its wasn’t an international phone call, according to Kim. As a result, KT allegedly made illicit gains by overcharging callers.
As Lee reported to the Korean Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), KT transferred him from Seoul to Gapyeong, a county in Gyeonggi Province. It took Lee five hours to commute back and forth to work. And then Kim was dismissed for dereliction of duty in Dec. 2012.
Saying that “KT’s dismissal of Kim is unfair,” ACRC notified KT that Kim should be protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act, which protects whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers. Resisting ACRC’s decision, however, KT took the matter to court.
Lower courts’ decisions were no different from the ACRC’s. In the first trial, the court ruled against KT, saying that “The 5-hour-long commute time exacerbated Kim’s back pain, but it seems that KT had no intention of allowing Kim to have sick leave. Though the reason for taking disciplinary action against Kim seems understandable, going so far as to dismiss Kim is a retaliatory personnel decision.”
People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), a South Korean civic group, wrote an op-ed saying “We welcomed the top court’s verdict. KT must withdraw its decision and immediately reinstate Kim.”
The way KT sacked Kim bears a resemblance to KT’s policy to give underperforming employees the boot. Since 2006 KT has put in place ‘Policy for Dismissal and Management of Underperforming Employees.” Under the policy, underperforming employees are first transferred to a post far away from where they live and tasked with an unfamiliar job, thus making them underachievers. If they do not quit their job, they will be dismissed for poor performance.
On Jan 25, the government implemented the so-called “two labor guidelines,” which ease restrictions for employers to fire underperforming workers and allow companies to change employment rules more easily. The government argues that the labor guidelines will not translate into “easy dismissals.” However, labor representatives criticize the government for letting companies like KT abuse the two labor guidelines to employees’ disadvantage as the guidelines now stipulate that "unacceptable lack of ability to do the job or poor job performance that burdens co-workers" is additional reasons for dismissal.
