Court "Compensation must be made to former Paju mayor retired employee who did not keep his promise of promotion"

A former Gyeonggi-do Paju City Hall fixed-term civil servant filed a lawsuit against former Paju Mayor Kim Kyung-il, claiming that he did not keep his promise of promotion and hiring, and won in the third trial following the appeal trial.

According to the legal community on the 7th, the first division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Ma Yong-ju) confirmed the lower court ruling ordering Mr. A to pay 31 million won and interest thereon in a lawsuit filed by Mr. A, a former Paju City government official, for 'compensation for damages due to illegal acts' filed against former Paju Mayor Kim Kyung-il and Paju City.

Previously, on June 18, Uijeongbu District Court Civil Division 5-2 (Chief Judge Hwang Young-hee) sided with Mr. A in the appeal trial of a lawsuit for damages due to illegal acts filed by Mr. A against former Paju Mayor Kim and Paju City.

The court said at the time, "The first trial judgment is canceled," and "The defendants (former mayor Kim Kyung-il and Paju City) shall jointly pay Mr. A 31 million won, plus money calculated at the rate of 5% per annum from January 3, 2023 to the date of delivery of a copy of the complaint in this case, and 12% per annum from the following day until the date of full repayment."

The court said, “The mayor of Paju promised to hire Mr. A at level 7 by saying that he would help him pass the open competitive recruitment exam for level 7 civil servants, and Mr. A, who believed this, was guided through Paju City employees not to wish to extend his service period as a level 9 public servant.”

He went on to explain, “It is quite possible to view the Paju mayor’s promise to hire Level 7 recruits as gross negligence due to a lack of significant care, as the mayor overlooked this, even though illegal results could easily have been foreseen if a little attention was paid.”

At the same time, it was judged that “if it had not been for the Mayor of Paju’s promise to hire level 7, it is correct to believe that Mr. A would have continued to work as a level 9 civil servant under the general term system by choosing to extend his service period until early January 2023, when his two-year term expires.”

The court added, “The mayor of Paju is responsible for compensating damages to Mr. A, who did not wish to extend his period of service because he believed in the promise that he would enable him to pass the public competitive appointment exam for level 7 civil servants, and Paju City is responsible for compensating for damages in accordance with Article 2 of the National Compensation Act for the mayor’s illegal acts related to the appointment.”

Former Paju Mayor Kim Kyung-il dissatisfied with the appeal and appealed to the Supreme Court.

When Mr. A failed Paju City's 7th grade fixed-term civil servant recruitment exam in January 2023, he filed a civil suit in March of the following year and lost in the first trial in February of last year.

In August 2022, when Mr. A had signed his third 5-year term contract and had been a public servant in Paju City for 12 years, he heard from Mayor Kim's secretary's office that "the mayor has contacted me to promote me to level 7 as a reward for my performance," and submitted his resignation to take the level 7 recruitment exam.

The Supreme Court found no problems with the second trial judgment and dismissed the appeal.