The Disciplinary Court yesterday found former representative to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) guilty of sexually harassing an employee during his stint in Manila.
Hsu, who headed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines from June 2018 to April 2023, was convicted of workplace sexual harassment.
The court said that Hsu cannot be employed in an official capacity for three years and imposed a fine of NT$500,000 (US$15,249).
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
Hsu retired in January last year.
The ruling followed Hsu’s impeachment by the Control Yuan on May 14 last year, with the government watchdog subsequently referring the case to the Disciplinary Court, which handles cases of civil servant misconduct.
According to the Control Yuan report at that time, Hsu made sexually explicit remarks to a Filipino employee working as his secretary and forcibly touched her multiple times from December 2022 to March 2023.
Hsu’s actions left the employee frightened, distressed and upset, and she developed insomnia as a result, the report said.
His improper behavior not only undermined the employee’s dignity, but also “severely damaged the reputation and image of the country and its diplomatic personnel,” it said.
The employee did not initially report Hsu out of fear of losing her job, but later handed over evidence of Hsu’s inappropriate actions, including recordings of conversations between the two, to a Taiwanese national security official posted in Manila, the report said.
The Control Yuan also censured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for “failing to take immediate and effective corrective measures” until sexual harassment allegations against Hsu began to circulate on a Taiwanese online forum and were widely reported by the media.
In a news release issued in June 2023, the ministry said it recalled Hsu in April after learning of his misconduct and placed him under investigation.
In October that year, the ministry said that its investigation confirmed Hsu’s impropriety and forwarded the case to the Control Yuan.
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