MOL to appeal ruling voiding official's firing in bullying suicide case

Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Tuesday confirmed it would appeal an administrative court ruling that voided its dismissal of a labor ministry branch chief whose bullying was linked to a worker's suicide.

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

On those grounds, Hsieh's challenge to her dismissal was well-founded, the court said, in a ruling that went on to strike down her dismissal.

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 on Nov. 4, 2024.

Amid a public uproar surrounding the case, the MOL issued two demerits at a performance review on Nov. 20, 2024, resulting in the high-ranking civil servant's immediate dismissal from office.

On Tuesday, the Chinese-language tabloid Mirror Media published portions of the 205 responses the MOL received to a questionnaire distributed as part of its investigation of Hsieh.

The responses showed that many of the employees knew directly or indirectly of Hsieh's bullying behavior, such as calling subordinates "pig-head," saying she wanted to strangle them, and calling their work "garbage," according to the report.

In a statement issued later that day, the MOL said it disagreed with the administrative court's first-instance ruling and had instructed legal counsel to prepare to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court within the statutory deadline.

The MOL noted that Hsieh had also been found guilty of corruption by a criminal court and impeached and referred for disciplinary action by the Control Yuan.

As those cases are currently 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 for corruption in September 2025. The Taiwan High Court upheld the prison sentence, while slightly reducing her deprivation of civil rights from three years to two years, in a ruling in April.