Court Rules: Losing Disciplinary Cancellation Lawsuit Means Nullification Suit Will Also Fail

▲ Seoul Family Court and Seoul Administrative Court

The court has ruled that if a plaintiff loses a lawsuit seeking to cancel a disciplinary action, they cannot overturn the outcome by filing a lawsuit to confirm the nullification of the disciplinary action.

The Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Kong Hyun-jin) ruled against university professor A in a lawsuit filed against a school foundation seeking to confirm the nullification of a disciplinary action.

Professor A received a three-month suspension in September 2023 on grounds including damaging the dignity of a faculty member, but the penalty was reduced to a one-month suspension through a review by an appeals commission.

A subsequently filed an administrative lawsuit seeking to cancel the disciplinary action, but it was dismissed.

After that ruling became final, A filed the current lawsuit once again asking the court to confirm the nullification of the disciplinary action.

The court determined that because the prior ruling confirming A's defeat in the cancellation lawsuit became final, the binding effect of that judgment (res judicata) extends to the current case.

Res judicata refers to the procedural binding force that prevents parties from retrying the same case or reversing a judgment once a verdict becomes final.

The court explained, "The subject matter of the prior lawsuit was the illegality of the one-month suspension," adding, "The res judicata of the prior ruling also applies to this lawsuit, which seeks to confirm the nullification on the grounds that the disciplinary decision was illegal."

It further stated, "This court cannot make a determination that contradicts the prior ruling, and therefore must dismiss the plaintiff's claim."

The court dismissed the claim without examining whether the grounds for A's disciplinary action actually existed.

Professor A, a professor of special education, is an individual who has argued that the special education teacher in the child abuse case involving webtoonist Joo Ho-min's son could not be viewed as having committed child abuse.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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