CONTENTS
- 1. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Detailed Circumstances?
- - Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Relevant Statutes?
- 2. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Court’s Determination?
- 3. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, Daeryun’s Strategy?
1. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Detailed Circumstances?
A, who was named as the defendant in the claim for damages lawsuit, had worked as a dump truck driver at B, a construction equipment leasing and subcontracting company, for about 15 years.
During this period, A caused a total of six traffic accidents, and each time, B paid the insurance proceeds through its automobile insurer.
After A left the company, however, B filed a claim for damages lawsuit, asserting that “the traffic accidents occurred due to A’s breach of the duty of care, which caused the insurance premium to rise,” and demanding payment of “18.85 million won in surcharged insurance premiums and 4 million won in own-vehicle repair costs.”
In response, A contended that the traffic accidents he caused “resulted from the wear of the dump truck’s tires and the overloading of soil* carried out at the company’s direction,” and sought help from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation to respond to the lawsuit. Representing A, the Corporation argued that, given the nature of B’s business, traffic accidents occurring during work were expected as insured events, and that A’s accidents were likewise ordinary accidents that could readily occur in the course of work.
The Corporation further argued that, because workers always perform their duties while bearing the risk of accidents, B should share this risk, and that the surcharge on the insurance premium was the company’s responsibility.
*Overloading : loading cargo onto a truck or the like in excess of its maximum loading capacity
Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Relevant Statutes?
🔗labor-management issues at a company, may an employer bring a claim for damages lawsuit against a worker? Because the Labor Standards Act and other laws contain no provisions on damages arising within the workplace, the matter is governed by the Civil Act.
When, in the course of performing duties, a worker breaches a work obligation through intent or negligence and thereby causes serious damage to the employer, or commits an unlawful act, the employer may bring a claim for damages lawsuit against the worker.
▣ Article 390 of the Civil Act (Non-performance of Obligation and Damages) If an obligor fails to perform in accordance with the substance of the obligation, the obligee may claim damages. This shall not apply, however, where the performance has become impossible without the intent or negligence of the obligor.
Article 750 (Definition of Tort) A person who causes damage to another by an unlawful act committed intentionally or negligently is liable to compensate for such damage.
Article 756 (Liability of an Employer for Damages) (1) A person who employs another to engage in a certain undertaking is liable to compensate for damage that the employee causes to a third party in the course of executing that undertaking. This shall not apply, however, where the employer has exercised due care in the appointment of the employee and in the supervision of the undertaking, or where the damage would have occurred even had due care been exercised. (2) A person who supervises the undertaking in place of the employer also bears the liability set out in the preceding paragraph. (3) In the cases of the preceding two paragraphs, the employer or supervisor may exercise a right of indemnity against the employee. |
Even if an employer may bring a claim for damages lawsuit against a worker, this does not mean that the worker must compensate for all of the damage.
The Supreme Court has held that “in general, where an employer has suffered damage directly as a result of an unlawful act committed in connection with a worker’s performance of duties, or has come to suffer damage as a result of bearing an employer’s liability for damages to the victim, the employer may exercise its right of indemnity against the worker only within the limit recognized as reasonable under the principle of good faith, from the standpoint of the fair distribution of the loss, in light of the nature and scale of the business, the condition of its facilities, the content of the worker’s duties, the working conditions and work attitude, the circumstances of the harmful act, the degree of the employer’s consideration regarding the prevention of the harmful act or the dispersion of the loss, and other relevant circumstances.” (Supreme Court, Decision of December 13, 1994, 94 Da 17246)
2. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, the Court’s Determination?
Having reviewed the claim for damages lawsuit, the district court dismissed B’s claim for damages lawsuit, holding that “there is insufficient evidence to find that A breached the duty of care in a manner exceeding the ordinary level and thereby caused damage to the company.”
The Corporation’s attorney who represented A explained, “This is a case confirming that, even if the insurance premium is surcharged as a result of an ordinary traffic accident caused by a worker during the performance of duties, the company cannot be regarded as having suffered damage thereby,” adding that “responsibility for losses arising from the ordinary work of a worker who performs duties while assuming risk should be borne by the employer.”
3. Claim for Damages Lawsuit, Daeryun’s Strategy?
We analyzed the district court judgment holding that, in a claim for damages lawsuit, a worker bears no responsibility to reimburse the surcharged insurance premium and vehicle repair costs for a traffic accident that occurred during work.
This judgment was a case that may serve as a warning against unfair conduct by companies, such as improperly shifting costs like surcharged insurance premiums onto workers.
Where a worker has committed an unlawful act through intent or negligence, or has caused serious damage to the employer, a claim for damages lawsuit is possible; however, to establish its legitimacy, proof through objective evidence is required.
The 🔗Labor and Industrial Accident Group of Daeryun Law Firm LLP provides legal advisory services in the various labor disputes that may arise at companies, so that workers can respond to unfair corporate conduct.
If you need assistance in a related matter, you are welcome to request legal consultation with Daeryun Law Firm LLP at any time.
