Based on its determination that avoiding allocating special subjects to a certain professor constitutes an unreasonable discriminatory act, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has recommended to the president of J National University that specific regulations or guidelines requiring indiscriminate allocation of special subject lectures to full-time faculty members at colleges and graduate schools be formulated and implemented. The NHRCK additionally recommended that the respondent known as Professor B, who is the head of a department, allocate special subjects to the complainant as well.
The complainant known as Professor A (52-year-old male) was not reappointed as a professor while working for the College of Education at J National University. At a later date, the Special Deliberation Committee for Teachers" Requests rendered a decision to retract the refusal to reappoint him. As a result, he was reinstated to the Department of English Education as an associate professor in 2006. However, the respondent who heads the department allocated only cultural subjects and not special subjects to only the complainant when allotting lecture subjects to the professors in the department. In response, the complainant filed a complaint with the NHRCK in November 2006, arguing that the president of the university was neglecting his duty of superintendence and supervision by failing to redress such unreasonable discrimination.
The respondent and the president of the university contended: (i) a new professor had been already hired prior to the reinstatement of the complainant and it was thus impossible to allocate special subjects to the complainant; (ii) the number of hours in cultural subject lectures given by the complainant exceeds the mandatory lecture hours for a professor; and (iii) the opinion of the relevant department regarding the level of the complainant"s interest in its harmony, etc. had been fully reflected in allocating lectures to the complainant.
However, the NHRCK has determined that the mere fact that the number of lecture hours allocated to the complainant exceeds the mandatory lecture hours for a professor does not attest to non-discrimination because professors feel satisfied and rewarded by delivering lectures on their major fields, and the advancement of their studies constitutes an intrinsic part of their realization of a personal right of integrity as professors. In addition, the NHRCK has concluded that it has no alternative but to regard the current situation as an act of discrimination unless a justifiable and reasonable rationale is provided.
In addition, the NHRCK has found that the president of said university, who has the right and obligation to supervise academic affairs and oversee faculty and staff, failed to provide an appropriate solution on the mere grounds that the issue in question must be coordinated by the relevant department. The NHRCK has also confirmed that the Academic Affairs Management Regulations of J National University contain no specific provisions regarding the allocation of special subjects. Under these circumstances, the NHRCK made said recommendation as it was deemed necessary, for the purpose of rectifying the discriminatory acts stated in this complaint, to suggest that both the head of the department and the president of the university overhaul related guidelines and practices and make aggressive efforts to improve the situation.
