Disciplinary Nullity Lawsuit | Case in Which the Plaintiff's Claim Was Dismissed by Representing the Defendant on Appeal in a Disciplinary Action Nullity Lawsuit

This is the case of a client who sought the assistance of this firm's civil litigation attorney in order to contest a disciplinary nullity lawsuit.

The client was the representative of a fisheries cooperative and had imposed a dismissal disposition on an employee working within the cooperative (hereinafter the “plaintiff”).

However, the plaintiff filed a disciplinary nullity lawsuit, claiming that the disciplinary action against the plaintiff was unjust and that the “dismissal disposition is void.”

The court of first instance accepted the plaintiff's claim and rendered a judgment revoking the dismissal disposition, and accordingly the cooperative respected the judgment, revoked the dismissal disposition, and instead imposed a suspension from duty.

However, the plaintiff again filed an application for remedy against unfair suspension from duty with the Labor Relations Commission, claiming that the suspension disposition was unjust.

The Labor Relations Commission rendered a decision ordering revocation of the suspension, stating that “the suspension disposition is excessive,” and the plaintiff thereafter filed a disciplinary nullity lawsuit against the cooperative for confirmation of the nullity of the suspension from duty.

The court of first instance ruled in favor of the plaintiff, holding that “the suspension disposition imposed by the client's cooperative is void, and that an amount equivalent to the wages not paid during the suspension period shall be paid”.

In response, the client's cooperative filed an appeal and requested the assistance of a civil litigation attorney.

The civil litigation attorney summarized the key issues of this case as the following three points.

· The lawfulness of the re-disciplinary action and whether the statute of limitations on disciplinary action applies

The issue was whether the newly imposed “suspension disposition” following the judgment revoking the dismissal disposition is subject to the statute of limitations on disciplinary action.

The plaintiff's side argued that “because the statute of limitations on disciplinary action has already expired, the suspension disposition is void.”

· The effect of the Labor Relations Commission's decision and the scope of the disciplinary authority's discretion

An issue arose as to the extent to which the Labor Relations Commission's decision finding unfair suspension is binding in the disciplinary nullity lawsuit.

· The repetitiveness of the grounds for disciplinary action and whether the negligence of duty was justified

Even though the plaintiff repeatedly engaged in negligence of duty, the plaintiff repeatedly filed lawsuits on the ground of procedural defects in the disciplinary process, which conflicted with the cooperative's exercise of its disciplinary authority.

The appellate court accepted all of the civil litigation attorney's arguments.

The court held that “the disciplinary action in this case was a correction made through reconsideration following the revocation of the prior dismissal disposition, that the provisions on the statute of limitations on disciplinary action cannot be applied, and that the disciplinary procedure was also lawfully conducted.”

In the end, the appellate court revoked the entire judgment of the first instance and recognized that the suspension disposition by the client's cooperative was a lawful act.

As a result, the cooperative was relieved of the burden of the wage-equivalent amount that it had been ordered to pay unjustly, and the legitimacy of its internal disciplinary system was confirmed once again.

When a company or public institution is sued by an employee in a disciplinary nullity lawsuit, such as one seeking nullity of a disciplinary action or revocation of a personnel disposition, it should respond as follows.

A disciplinary nullity lawsuit is not a procedure that contests only “whether the disciplinary action was appropriate,” but a process in which lawfulness, procedural legitimacy, and the scope of discretion are comprehensively assessed.

As in this case, where an employee files disciplinary nullity lawsuits one after another, it is important to clearly demonstrate, at the initial response stage, whether the requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act were met and whether the internal regulations were not unlawful or contradictory.

If you require the legal assistance of a legal expert, such as a civil litigation attorney, a corporate attorney, or a certified labor attorney, in a situation similar to this case, please proceed with a 🔗legal consultation reservation with a civil litigation attorney.