Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor to appeal reversal of official’s dismissal — Taipei Times
Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor intends to appeal a ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court that overturned the dismissal of Hsieh Yi-jung, the former head of a regional branch of the Workforce Development Agency. The ministry said it disagrees with the first-instance court’s decision and is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Administrative court ruling
On September 3, the court ruled that disciplinary proceedings against Hsieh Yi-jung violated due process and that the ministry’s conclusions were erroneous. The court found her complaint against the dismissal justified and overturned the decision.
Hsieh headed the northern regional branch of the Workforce Development Agency. She was accused of workplace bullying following the suicide of a 39-year-old subordinate surnamed Wu in his office in New Taipei on November 4, 2024. Prosecutors had previously declined to bring charges against her in connection with the employee’s death, finding no causal link between her management and the suicide.
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Other proceedings
On November 20, 2024, the ministry imposed two severe disciplinary sanctions on the official following an assessment of her work, resulting in her dismissal. As Taipei Times reports, Mirror Media published parts of 205 questionnaire responses collected as part of the ministry’s investigation into Hsieh’s conduct. Employees said they had themselves experienced or heard about alleged bullying by her; in particular, she was accused of calling subordinates “idiots” and their work “garbage.”
The ministry also noted that a criminal court found Hsieh guilty of corruption, while the Control Yuan impeached her and referred the case for disciplinary review. In September last year, she was sentenced to four years and six months in prison in a corruption case. In April, the Taiwan High Court upheld the prison term, reducing the deprivation of civil rights from three years to two. While the cases are being considered by the Supreme Court and the disciplinary court for civil servants, Hsieh will remain suspended from work.
