The Seoul High Court upheld a lower court’s judgment, Monday, granting limited compensation to the bereaved family of a civil servant who had died by suicide after experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. The family had sought higher damages but the court refused to award more, saying there was no direct evidence that the harassment caused the suicide.

The court said Monday that the defendants -- a local government organization and former colleagues who had demeaned the deceased with sexually offensive remarks -- had to pay the family 30 million won.

The court acknowledged that the woman had been subjected to stress as a result of workplace sexual harassment. But they found that there was no clear connection between the harassment and the victim’s subsequent death since there was no mention of sexually offensive comments in hospital reports from the same time frame. The victim had been treated for depression and anxiety before her death.

The bereaved family had argued that the local government had neglected its legal responsibilities in permitting a sexually discriminatory work environment and worsened the victim’s depression.

The court rejected this argument, saying it was difficult to conclude that the local government had created an environment so unbearable that it could be blamed for the death.



By Yoon Yeun-jung (kairos07@heraldcorp.com)