Court Rules Dismissal of SRT Train Manager Who Took Passenger's Lost Cash and Luxury Wallet 'Justified'

A court has ruled that the dismissal of a train manager who secretly took cash and a luxury wallet left behind by a passenger on a train was justified.

The 1st Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Yang Sang-yoon) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by SR Corporation against the National Labor Relations Commission seeking the cancellation of a retrial decision on unfair dismissal relief.

Train manager A of the SRT train did not hand over 1.2 million won in cash, a luxury wallet, and wireless earphones left behind by a passenger to the lost and found center, but instead took them to their home.

Later, the Gwangju Regional Railway Special Judicial Police forwarded A on charges of embezzlement, and the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Office Prosecutors' Office issued a suspension of indictment.

At the time, the prosecution acknowledged the facts of the suspect's charges against A, but cited mitigating factors such as A being a first-time offender, confessing, and reaching a settlement with the victim.

Afterward, when the company's disciplinary committee resolved to dismiss A, A filed an application for unfair dismissal relief with the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission.

The company filed an administrative lawsuit after the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission accepted A's relief application and the National Labor Relations Commission subsequently dismissed its request for a retrial.

The court sided with the company, stating, "It is difficult to view the disciplinary dismissal as unlawful by exceeding or abusing discretionary disciplinary power."

In doing so, it cited a Supreme Court ruling that disciplinary measures against employees are fundamentally within the discretion of the person with disciplinary authority, and a disciplinary measure can be deemed unlawful only when it significantly lacks validity under social norms.

The court judged that A intentionally committed occupational embezzlement, stating, "A taking the lost items to their home and embezzling them is an act of taking financial advantage by using authority granted through official duties, and the degree of misconduct is severe."

It added, "According to SR's detailed disciplinary regulations, when the misconduct is severe and intentional, the disciplinary standard of 'removal from office' applies," and concluded, "The dismissal disposition, which was mitigated by one level from the standard by the plaintiff, does not exceed the scope of the disciplinary sentencing standards."

(File Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.