“Even if gambling was done outside of working hours, it is a violation of dignity.”
Personal borrowing of money from customers was also cited as a reason for dismissal.
[파이낸셜뉴스] A court ruled that it was justified to fire a bank employee who habitually played online gambling games and even made personal financial transactions with customers, even when it was not work time.
According to the legal community on the 10th, the 12th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Kang Jae-won) recently ruled that the plaintiff lost in a lawsuit filed by former bank employee A against the National Labor Relations Commission to cancel the retrial decision on unfair dismissal relief.
Mr. A, who joined the bank in 1997 and has been in charge of loan operations, received notice of dismissal from the company in 2022. As a result of the company’s own audit, the reason was that Mr. A had engaged in inappropriate private financial lending with loan customers, unfair lending on real estate prohibited from obtaining collateral, excessive lending due to signing up for inappropriate mortgage credit insurance, and habitual gambling.
Mr. A objected to this and applied for a retrial to the company’s higher personnel committee, but it was not accepted.
He then applied for relief from the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission claiming unfair dismissal, but when it was rejected, he filed a lawsuit.
In particular, he said, “I have never taken unfair advantage or provided preferential treatment through private financial transactions with loan customers,” and added, “Gambling was also just a type of PC game played after work hours, so the possibility of criticism is not high, and virtual currency in the game is not actually used.” “It cannot be said to be habitual gambling because it is not cashed out,” he argued.
However, the court also saw no problem with Mr. A’s dismissal. The court ruled that there were no flaws in the disciplinary process, saying, “All reasons for disciplinary action against the plaintiff are recognized, and the disciplinary action does not appear to be excessive considering the extent of the misconduct.”
The court said, “It is clear that the plaintiff engaged in private financial transactions, such as borrowing 15.34 million won and 9,000 won on eight occasions from Mr. B, a person related to his job, and repaying 15.5 million won on a total of 10 occasions.”
In addition, with regard to habitual gambling, it was judged that the duty to maintain dignity was violated, saying, “Even if gambling outside of working hours did not directly interfere with work, gambling in itself is immoral and a subject of criticism.”
He added, “In addition, if a significant financial loss has been incurred through gambling, it can interfere with overall work efficiency, and if an employee in the financial industry engages in gambling, it is highly likely that it will lead to additional crimes such as embezzlement to make up for the losses.”
The court said, “Mr. A has created a risk of undermining the sound financial transaction order,” and “He has denied the misconduct itself by making excuses that his misconduct was an unavoidable act due to performance pressure or by repeating statements he made during the audit process. “It is difficult to judge whether there is a genuine affection for war,” he added.
[email protected] Reporter Jeong Won-il and Choi Eun-sol
※ Copyright ⓒ Financial News, unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited
![[반환점 돈 윤석열 정부] Prices, jobs, real estate ‘screaming’… Urgent need for economic reform](http://m.segyefn.com/content/image/2024/11/10/20241110508050.jpg "[반환점 돈 윤석열 정부] Prices, jobs, real estate ‘screaming’… Urgent need for economic reform")
