Labor ministry to appeal voiding of official’s dismissal

The Ministry of Labor yesterday said it would appeal an administrative court ruling that voided its dismissal of a branch chief who was accused of bullying following a worker’s suicide.

On Sept. 3, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that the ministry’s disciplinary proceedings against former Workforce Development Agency (WDA) branch head Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) had “violated due process” and made “erroneous” findings.

On those grounds, Hsieh’s challenge to her dismissal was well-founded, the court said.

The Ministry of Labor’s logo is displayed at the ministry in Taipei in an undated photograph.

Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times

The ruling struck down her dismissal. Prosecutors earlier declined to indict her over the death of the worker, finding no causal relationship between her leadership and the suicide.

Hsieh, who headed the WDA’s northern regional branch, was accused of workplace bullying following the suicide of a 39-year-old subordinate, surnamed Wu (吳), in his office in New Taipei City on Nov. 4, 2024.

Amid an uproar surrounding the case, the ministry issued two major demerits at a performance review on Nov. 20, 2024, resulting in the high-ranking civil servant’s dismissal from office.

The Chinese-language tabloid Mirror Media yesterday published portions of the 205 responses the ministry received to a questionnaire distributed as part of its investigation into Hsieh’s conduct.

Employees reported having experienced or heard about Hsieh’s alleged bullying, Mirror Media reported, adding that they accused her of calling subordinates “idiots” and calling their work “garbage.”

The ministry in a statement later yesterday said that it disagreed with the court’s first-instance ruling and had instructed legal counsel to prepare to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court within the statutory deadline.

Hsieh was also found guilty of corruption by a criminal court, impeached and referred for disciplinary action by the Control Yuan, the ministry said.

As those cases are pending before the Supreme Court and the Disciplinary Court for civil servants respectively, Hsieh will remain suspended from duty and will not be reinstated at this time, the ministry said.

Hsieh was sentenced to four years and six months in prison on corruption charges in September last year. The Taiwan High Court in April upheld the prison sentence, although it slightly reduced her deprivation of civil rights to two years from three.