SEOUL: A Seoul court upheld a manager’s one-month pay cut for telling a female worker that the “pretty one” should sit next to the company’s president, finding that the remark amounted to workplace sexual harassment.
The Seoul Administrative Court recently ruled against the manager in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a decision by the National Labor Relations Commission, according to legal sources on Wednesday (July 29).
The manager was the planning director of a dance company run by an arts foundation. He received a one-month pay cut after he was accused of sexual harassment and workplace bullying.
The incident took place during a team lunch with the company president.
The foundation also cited comments he made to an employee about working reduced hours for childcare, as well as an incident in which he shouted at a subordinate over work.
The regional labour relations commission later removed both incidents from the grounds for his punishment.
The regional commission found that the remark alone justified a one-month pay cut. After the NLRC dismissed the manager’s appeal, he filed an administrative lawsuit in September.
He claimed that calling someone “pretty” did not constitute sexual harassment and denied that the comment was sexually motivated, nor did he intend to judge the employee by her appearance. He argued that the comment was intended as a joke to ease the awkwardness as employees tried to decide where to sit at lunch with the president.
The court, however, rejected his argument, saying the remark went beyond a casual compliment by linking the employee’s appearance to where she should sit. It also noted that the female worker may have felt it was an instruction she had to follow because of her appearance.
The court also said that the comment judged and objectified the employee based on her looks and could have caused her sexual humiliation or discomfort. - The Korea Herald/ANN
