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A South Korean court has upheld a bank’s decision to fire an employee for “habitually” playing crypto games.
Fn News reported that the Seoul Administrative Court “ruled in the bank’s favor” in a lawsuit pertaining to a 2022 dismissal.
Bank Staffer Fired for Playing Crypto Games
Neither the bank nor the individual were named in media reports on the case. The former employee reportedly began working at the bank in 1997.
The individual was eventually promoted to head of lending at one of the bank’s branches.
But the bank launched an investigation into the employee in 2022, and followed up by dismissing the individual.
The company’s internal audit found that the employee had also “engaged in inappropriate private money lending” with the bank’s loan clients.
However, the bank also claimed that the employee was a “habitual gambler” who played online gambling games that use crypto as an in-game currency.
Crypto gambling games are illegal in South Korea. However, many South Korean players use overseas servers and foreign platforms.
The individual challenged the decision and took the matter to the bank’s central HR board, which rejected the appeal.
The former employee then appealed to the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission for support, claiming unfair dismissal.
‘I’m Not a Habitual Gambler,’ Says Ex-Staffer
When the appeal was rejected, the ex-employee filed a lawsuit. The former manager was quoted as telling the court:
“I only played one kind of PC game, and I did so after work hours. Furthermore, I did not convert the game’s cryptoassets into fiat. So what I did cannot be considered habitual gambling.”
The ex-staffer also claimed that they had “never gained unfair profits or provided preferential treatment” through their “private financial transactions with [the bank’s] loan clients.”
However, the court agreed that the bank had been correct in dismissing the ex-employee. The presiding judge, Justice Kang Jae-won, was quoted as saying:
“All grounds for disciplinary action against the plaintiff are acknowledged, and the disciplinary action does not seem excessive considering the degree of misconduct.”
The court also ruled that “even if” bank employees “gamble outside of work hours” and their activities “do not directly interfere with work,” it was “undignified” for bank employees to play crypto gambling games.
“Gambling is immoral and should be condemned in itself.”
Seoul Administrative Court
The court concluded:
“Furthermore, since the [ex-employee] suffered a significant financial loss through gambling, it could have had a negative impact on their overall work efficiency. If an employee in the financial industry gambles, there is a high possibility that they will commit additional crimes such as embezzlement to recover their losses.”
