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Investigation and remedies for age discrimination [2002] KRNHRC 3 (1 January 2002)

As regards age discrimination, 5 complaints were filed with the Commission
during 2002, while there was one case in which the Commission itself
discovered discriminatory conduct and so conducted ex officio investigation.
Out of 6 cases in total, 5 cases were processed, and one case is still under
examination.

Among the actions taken for the cases, voluntary dismissals were made by
the petitioners for 2 cases, and one case was rejected because it was not within
the Commission's subject matter jurisdiction. The Commission found that equal
rights were violated in two cases including the case of "age discrimination in
employment of a professor," into which the Commission conducted an ex
officio investigation, and resolved it by recommending the respondent give
proper relief to the petitioner.

More specifically, the complaints asserted that the petitioner, whose name
was Jeong, submitted an application for the examination for special admission
of the outstanding students in each category of learning capability in order to
apply for the preparatory medical department at Catholic University of Daegu.
According to the complaint, however, the petitioner could not pass the examination
because of the regulation of the university, which provided "the younger applicant
shall be admitted among those who obtain same points." The Commission held
that the respondent's conduct amounted to discriminatory conduct violating
equal rights under the provision of Article 11 of the Constitution, and issued a
recommendation to the respondent to give proper relief to the petitioner, which
the respondent accepted to allow the petitioner to enroll in the school.
On the other hand, the Commission received a report from a citizen that
Kang Nung National University set an age limit for eligible applicants for
employment of teaching staff in the department of history to 45 years when it
recruited full-time teaching staffs in the second half of 2002. Considering it as
violation equal rights, the Commission decided at the 23rd Plenary Committee
meeting to make a broad investigation and examination over the "age
discrimination cases in recruitment of teaching staff," and conducted an
investigation expanding the scope of investigation to national and public
universities in the country. As a result, it was discovered that 14 universities set
an age limit in recruitment of teaching staff, and so the Commission issued a
recommendation to rectify such violation.

With the momentum from this case, it is expected that the customary practice
limiting the age in employment of teaching staffs without a reasonable ground
will be rectified, and that it will have a widening impact on private universities,
national companies and private companies at the same time.