South Gyeongsang Province police agency said Wednesday the defendant, who is not being identified, had suggested being pregnant on the job was “criminal,” Yonhap and local news service Chosun Biz reported.
“Anyone who becomes pregnant at our organization is a criminal above all criminals,” the male officer said to a female plaintiff who also remains unidentified in reports.
A disciplinary committee in charge of the case said the plaintiff was subject to “impersonal treatment” and workplace bullying through verbal intimidation.
The incident took place in the city of Jinju on Feb. 3, when the plaintiff was nine weeks into her pregnancy. She requested she remain in her position after maternity leave. The defendant told the plaintiff pregnancy is “criminal.”
The plaintiff suffered a miscarriage on Feb. 8. According to Chosun Biz, the plaintiff said the stress of carrying the baby while being subjected to workplace bullying caused her to miscarry.
The plaintiff also said no abnormalities had been detected in January during a regular medical checkup. After her experience with workplace intimidation, the plaintiff, who was reassigned to a police box where she works three shifts, said she had trouble sleeping and eating. An apology and “severe discipline” of her former supervisor is necessary, she said.
The defendant denied workplace bullying, and said the meaning of the exchange has been “distorted.”
Working mothers are entitled to 90 days of maternity leave in South Korea. Paternity leave is also on the rise, up 26 percent in 2019 from 2018, according to Seoul. (UPI)
