Jeonju Attorney Wins the Case | Daeryun Jeonju Attorney Succeeds in an Appeal for Relief Funds Dismissed at First Instance

The client worked at a child care facility and suffered significant harm when their identity was exposed in the course of filing an internal public interest report regarding the unlawful conduct of the head of that facility.

The client was dismissed and continually received abusive text messages and phone calls demanding that the report be withdrawn.

The client lost their job in an instant and even suffered psychological harm.

The client applied for relief funds to compensate for the harm, but received a notice stating that the requirements were not met and the relief funds could not be provided.

The client requested that the Daeryun Jeonju attorney file an appeal for the payment of relief funds.

After making a public interest report, a public interest reporter may receive a reward, compensation, or relief funds from the State.

Reward: where the public interest report contributes to the public interest, such as by preventing acts of harm to the public interest or improving systems

Compensation: where a financial benefit accrues to a government agency following a public interest report

Relief funds: where the reporter or their family suffers harm or incurs unnecessary financial expenditure as a result of a public interest report

Conditions for payment of relief funds

-Physical and psychological treatment costs
-Relocation costs due to transfer, dispatch work, etc.
-Costs of litigation proceedings arising from the public interest report
-Lost wages during the period of the adverse measure (up to 36 months)
-Other significant economic loss

In this client's case, economic and psychological harm arose from the public interest report, so the client could apply for ‘relief funds’.

The ground on which the defendant argued for the dismissal of the relief fund payment was that ‘the report in this case was received and processed anonymously, the reporter's personal details were not confirmed, and the formal requirements for a public interest report under Article 8 of the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act were therefore not satisfied’.

■Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act Article 8 (Method of Public Interest Reporting)

(1) A person who intends to make a public interest report shall submit a document (including an electronic document) stating the following matters.

-Personal details of the public interest reporter, such as name, resident registration number, address, and contact information
-The person committing the act of harm to the public interest
-The content of the act of harm to the public interest
-The purpose and grounds of the public interest report

The Daeryun Jeonju attorney submitted as evidence the civil petition documents that the client had filed with all personal details, including name, resident registration number, and address, and argued that this was not an anonymous report.

The attorney argued that the public official had mistakenly recorded the report as anonymous and that the matter arose from inadequate intake, so the original decision was unlawful and unjust and should be revoked, and that the client should be recognized as a public interest reporter and paid relief funds.

The Daeryun Jeonju attorney argued the client's harm and emphasized the need for the payment of relief funds.

As a result of the public interest report, the client was forced to resign and was subjected to continual threatening messages from the facility head, suffering economic and psychological harm.

The Daeryun Jeonju attorney argued that the client's current situation met the requirements for an application for the payment of relief funds and that relief funds were needed to compensate for the harm caused by the public interest report.

Through measures such as expanding relief funds under the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act, the Commission is working to ensure that no blind spots arise in the protection of reporters.

Despite such efforts, the reality is that applications for the payment of relief funds are still not processed smoothly.

Remedies against an unjust disposition by an administrative agency ultimately come down to an administrative appeal or administrative litigation.

Daeryun Law Firm provides tailored assistance to protect clients' rights and interests, led by attorneys with extensive experience and know-how in the fields of administrative litigation and administrative remedies.

If you need help regarding the payment of relief funds and administrative dispositions as in the case above, please reach out to a Daeryun Law Firm Jeonju attorney.

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