6 health ministry officials investigated for workplace bullying

Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) Six officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) are under investigation for alleged involvement in workplace bullying, with two of them already suspended, the ministry said Friday.

In response to recent media reports and questions from lawmakers about allegations of workplace bullying involving MOHW officials, the ministry held a news conference to present preliminary findings from an investigative task force headed by Deputy Health Minister Lue Jen-der (呂建德).

Given that most of the complaints were made anonymously, the task force has asked all current and former employees from the workplaces of the accused to complete surveys and indicate whether they are willing to be interviewed, Lue said.

Former MOHW employees are encouraged to participate, he added.

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According to Lue, six officials are now under investigation. Among them are MOHW Secretary General Liu Yu-chuan (劉玉娟), who also heads the Department of Social Insurance, and a senior inspector at the Department of Protective Services, surnamed Lin (林).

Liu was accused of bullying during her tenure as the head of the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Taipei Division over two years ago.

Lue said that after conflicting accounts regarding Liu's behavior were heard, she was removed from her role as head of the department and took voluntary leave from her position as secretary general.

In addition, Lue said there was concrete evidence that Lin had engaged in serious bullying. The two have therefore been suspended with immediate effect "to prevent interviewees from feeling intimidated," he added.

Lue said that the way Lin spoke to people "may have involved personal attacks" and that more than one individual appeared to have been targeted.

The other four officials under investigation are NHIA Deputy Director-General Chen Lian-yu (陳亮妤), Su Chao-ju (蘇昭如), the head of the Department of Social Assistance and Social Work, another official from that department, and a legislative liaison division official.

Lue said the probes are ongoing and none of the four have been suspended. The goal is to finish all six investigation processes within two weeks, he said.

Meanwhile, another potential case of suspected bullying involving the head of the Department of Long-Term Care, Chu Chien-fang (祝健芳), was reported by local Chinese-language media CNEWS.

The report, citing an anonymous source, alleged that Chu denied employees' overtime pay requests and required staff to take turns leading daily group squats accompanied by one-minute motivational speeches.

Other suspected cases of workplace bullying have also emerged in government institutions and government-affiliated organizations across Taiwan, following the suicide of a Ministry of Labor employee earlier this month, which is believed to have been linked to workplace bullying.

Officials, including Chen Su-fen (陳素芬), director-general of the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung, and Wang Wen-yi (王文儀), chairperson of the Taipei Performing Arts Center, are now under investigation for alleged workplace bullying.

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