Employee fired for taking gift mugs ruled unfair dismissal

A local court said Sunday it ruled against a company that fired an employee for taking without permission five mugs and one calendar intended as promotional gifts for customers.

Seoul Administrative Court has ruled against Porsche Korea's official dealer, Autostadt, who challenged the National Labor Relations Commission's ruling on its firing of the employee. The company had dismissed the employee -- who had worked there nine years -- in February last year, arguing that he had taken the promo gifts without permission, causing a disruption to work performance, delaying their delivery to customers. The company also claimed the employee's act constituted "theft," but the investigators reportedly could not find sufficient evidence for this claim.

The court acknowledged that while the employee had inflicted some damage by taking the mugs and calendar, termination of the worker's contract was an excessive action on the company's part. It pointed out that the employee actually gave two of the mugs -- which were valued at 20,000 won ($15) each -- to customers, and had planned to give the other three to customers as well before returning them to the company.

"It cannot be said that there is enough reason (to fire the employee) to the extent that employment is no longer possible, based on conventional wisdom," the court said in its verdict.

"The company’s dismissal was unfair," and "an abuse of its disciplinary discretion," it added.

Autostadt has appealed the ruling.