Forged Credentials and Korean Employment Law: What to Do With Professor Shin

by Brendon Carr

The latest scandal du jour occupying headlines in Korea is the case of disgraced Dongguk University art professor and wunderkind museum curator “Dr.” (and this is the crux of the matter) Shin Jeong-ah, whose appointment to chairmanship of the prestigious 2008 Gwangju Biennale (I know, what?—but apparently it is something in the art world, and especially in Korea’s art world) proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to her dirty little secret being outed.

You see, it seems “Dr.” Shin lied about her Yale Art History Ph.D. and her M.A. and B.A. from the University of Kansas. (I’m from Columbia, Missouri—if I had attended KU I would have to lie about it too!) If the allegations against her are true, Prof. Shin not only did not finish a Ph.D., but she dropped out of KU in her third year without a degree. So she is a high-school graduate and art curator.

Her story is chronicled in a zillion articles, but as of this writing my favorite is a Chosun Ilbo editorial entitled “The Fraud Who Commanded Korea’s Art World”.

So why hasn’t she gotten the sack yet?

Generally speaking, an employer seeking to terminate an employee faces the obstacle of Art. 31 of the Labor Standards Act, which requires “just cause” for termination of an employee. Court precedents interpreting this concept of just cause have limited just cause to be some “fault attributable to the employee”—some misconduct or breach of trust so serious that it’s not possible to continue the employment relationship even with efforts to remediate the problems. These cases have established that such fault includes but is not necessarily llimited to continuous and persistence unsatisfactory performance, criminal or deliberately tortious acts committed against the employer (or in some cases, against another employee; for example, sexual harassment), an “improper relationship” with another employee, and—germane to the case of the errant “Dr.” Shin—material misrepresentation in the hiring process.

“Material misrepresentation” means that the misrepresentation had some concrete connection to whether or not the candidate would have been hired. It would not, for example, be considered material if an applicant had said that she had served in the Navy except in the case that prior Navy service was essential to successful performance in the position. A taxi driver who claimed to have graduated from Yale could not be dismissed on the basis of that statement, because a Yale degree is not essential to getting hired as a taxi driver. However, most universities do require an advanced degree in the subject for which a professor is being hired. If “Dr.” Shin lied about her degree(s)—and she is now attempting to get over by admitting her “dissertation” was plagiarized (something which is not unusual among Korean Ph.D. holders) but that she did in fact obtain the degree—then the good professor is in some trouble.

So, it appears there is “just cause” to terminate. Again, why hasn’t she gotten the sack yet? I wrote about this in the comments to a related post on the Marmot’s Hole:

Getting hired based on forged credentials is “just cause” for termination under the Labor Standards Act, but an employer cannot simply can someone the minute it is discovered there is substantive just cause. The employer is also required to follow its own regulations and procedures in respect of disciplinary action — to follow so-called procedural just cause as well.

So they give her a few weeks to run around with OJ and the Clue Crew looking for the real forgers, then summon her before the university’s disciplinary committee to explain herself and to provide evidence supporting her version of events. Then they fire her.

One of the things we’re learning as this goes along is that Dongguk University, like so many other employers including major multinationals, was so impressed by her personality and command of English that the university failed to verify her credentials. Dongguk apparently did not verify her Kansas undergraduate and graduate enrollment records, and accepted from Prof. Shin a faxed copy of a “Yale” diploma which apparently bears little resemblance to an actual Yale diploma. Today the university, apparently embarrassed at it becoming known how incompetently they check their applicants, tried to convince the public that they had in fact tried to verify by dispatching letters addressed to “University of Kansas, USA” and “Yale University, USA”. But Dongguk never followed up when those letters were allegedly not answered.

I have encountered this so many times in my career here as an employment lawyer. Multinationals tend to hire for English first, and in the early days of getting set up, they hire the first available smiling face that can speak English. That’s a recipe to get burned, and a lot of them surely do get burned.

Advice to employers: Verify the background of everyone who applies for a job, and gather as much information (including information about family members, which is not generally available but which becomes invaluable when fraud is discovered, as it is usually a family member who helps with the escapade) at the commencement of the employment relationship, when everyone is happy and helpful. Once you’re suspicious, it’s way too late to get the information you need.

And don’t—for the love of God—get mesmerized by language ability and a firm handshake.

July 18, 2007 | Filed Under That Guy (Don't Be), Employment Law

Comments

Comments Policy: Comments to Korea Law Blog are moderated. This means abusive, or just plain stupid comments will be deleted. So don't be a jerk. It also means there may be some delay from the time you post a comment to the time it shows up here. If your comment wasn't against the policy, it will show up in a little bit.




XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

Please enter the word you see in the image below: