직장 내 괴롭힘의 민사상 책임

It has been five years since a provision on workplace harassment was newly established and enforced under the Labor Standards Act. This paper reviewed the current status of workplace harassment from the perspective of civil law by outlining and summarizing the civil liability borne by the harasser, employer, and workplace harassment investigator, who are legal actors involved in workplace harassment, for the victim worker, and by examining significant ruling decisions since the introduction of a provision on workplace harassment under the Labor Standards Act. Workplace harassment is a new type of tort that violates personality rights, and a legal provision on the prohibition of workplace harassment holds significance as it specifies the protection of workers’ personality rights in employment contracts, where personality rights are more likely to be infringed upon than in other types of contracts due to the nature of labor which cannot be separated from personality. Workplace harassment may serve as a cause for civil tort liability, and the victim worker may seek compensation for damages due to the tort. Workplace harassment’s violation of law as a tort will ultimately depend on how the meaning and determination criteria of each component of workplace harassment, which requires normative judgment, are construed. Regarding whether damages arise, determination criteria need to be prepared to determine to what extent the deterioration of the work environment is regarded as an interest in living to be protected by law. Compensation liability for damages due to the breach of the duty of protection under the employment contract, the employer’s vicarious liability, and tort liability for the violation of the Labor Standards Act may be sought against the employer. Compensation liability for damages due to the breach of the duty of protection under the employment contract may be used in cases where the breach of the employer’s duty is not specifically stated in the Labor Standards Act. Regarding the employer’s vicarious liability, the degree of fulfillment of the duty set forth in the Labor Standards Act will serve as one of the important criteria for the employer’s immunity from liability. The employer’s tort liability can be established not only for the violation of the Labor Standards Act but also for the victim worker’s mental suffering due to disadvantageous actions taken against coworkers who helped the victim worker. Furthermore, the victim worker is allowed to seek tort liability from the workplace harassment investigator, as the duty of confidentiality recognized in case law is enshrined under the Labor Standards Act.