Crypto Mining Rig Set Up with Company Funds... Employee Cries 'Unfair Dismissal,' Loses Lawsuit

An employee who secretly set up a cryptocurrency mining rig in a government-funded research institute's storage room and squandered company funds has lost a lawsuit challenging his dismissal.

According to the virtual asset industry and other sources on Tuesday (August 11), the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the plaintiff on July 3 in a lawsuit filed by former division head A seeking the revocation of the National Labor Relations Commission's review ruling that dismissed his claim of unfair dismissal.

A was accused of secretly bringing cryptocurrency mining servers into an empty storage room within the institute in 2023 and mining approximately 71 million coins over a period of about eight months.

In particular, A embezzled institutional budget to install an air conditioner dedicated to the miners and even carried out electrical work, while leaving 117 fabricated attendance records by using remote bypass access programs.

Furthermore, it was revealed that A forged official documents to conceal the crime, which ultimately led to the leakage of important research data from the national research institute to the outside.

After the disciplinary committee resolved to dismiss A, he requested a review, which was rejected. He subsequently filed a relief application with the Regional Labor Relations Commission and a review application with the National Labor Relations Commission, both of which were also dismissed.

Dissatisfied with these decisions, A filed a lawsuit seeking the revocation of the National Labor Relations Commission's review ruling on unfair dismissal, but the court did not accept it.

The court stated, "It cannot be seen that the dismissal lacked validity under social norms or that the disciplinary authority was abused, making the dismissal justified."

Meanwhile, A was also referred to a criminal trial on charges of theft and forgery of private documents, and a prison sentence of one year was finalized in April.

(Photo provided by the Audit Committee of the National Science and Technology Commission, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.