Whistleblower wins compensation in #MeToo case against senior Buddhist monk
Court orders compensation for years of sexual harassment, unfair HR move following disclosure
A Seoul court awarded woman who exposed years of sexual harassment by a high-ranking Buddhist monk, and was subjected to disadvantages in personnel decisions afterward, 309.5 million won ($224,700) in compensation.
The Seoul Northern District Court ruled in favor of the victim in a lawsuit against the perpetrator and the Jin-Gak Buddhist Order, which had reassigned her under unjustified circumstances after she came forward.
The court found that the woman faced disadvantageous personnel decisions, including a forced transfer, after revealing the abuse in 2021. In an interview with local broadcaster SBS, she said the monk, who was in his 50s, repeatedly touched her without her consent her after she joined the order in 2017 as a 25-year-old.
A colleague of the victim supported this claim in the same report, saying she was visibly uncomfortable about the accused's physical contact in the office.
After the #Metoo accusation, the order's disciplinary committee initially imposed a five-year suspension on the monk in December of 2021. But the decision was later revoked by the order's leadership, which instead transferred the victim to its Daejeon branch.
Of the court-ordered compensation of 309.5 million won, 100 million won is for the sexual harassment and 200 million won is for the unjust transfer. The remaining amount is to compensate for the therapy and treatment the victim received as a result of the attack.
In November last year, Jin-Gak Order and its human resources official responsible for the problematic transfer were convicted of violating the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act and the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act.
The monk was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, in February, and is currently under appellate trial after appealing the ruling.
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