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Sexual harassment by a female president [2008] KRNHRC 20 (1 January 2008)

Oh, a male worker, filed a complaint that the female president of the company that Oh
worked for sexually harassed him. According to Oh, the female president forcefully locked
his arms, told him in public that she loved him, called him or sent him text messages
everyday saying, "Why don't you love me?" and went to the house of the complainant to
ask him out on a date. The complainant suffered from psychological distress and
humiliation and had to quit his job.

The respondent admitted that she called him or sent him text messages. However, she
denied any other claims made by the complainant.

The Commission found that the complainant had told the truth, based on the evidence:
some people witnessed the acts of the respondent; the respondent acknowledged that she
called him and left voice mails; the witnesses said that they asked the respondent not to
harass him and that they were uncomfortable and under stress due to the words and
behavior of the respondent. The Commission concluded that an ordinary man would feel
sexually humiliated or harassed if his female boss, a married woman, tried to lock arms
with him or said that she loved him in public, even though the man clearly rejected her. In
addition, the Commission ruled that the act of the respondent to make sexual advances to
the complainant, who was then employed by the respondent, with frequent calls or text
messages to make the complainant feel stressful constituted sexual harassment.

Therefore, the Commission recommended that the respondent attend special human
rights training provided by the Commission and offer damages of 3 million won to the
complainant.