The Control Yuan today said it has passed a proposal to impeach two former Ministry of Labor officials following allegations of embezzlement and a case of workplace bullying that was linked to the suicide of a civil servant on Nov. 4 last year.
Former Workforce Development Agency northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), and former agency director-general Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) are to face trial in the Disciplinary Court.
The ministry said it respects the Control Yuan’s decision and would cooperate with the Disciplinary Court if necessary.
Photo: Taipei Times
An investigation determined that both officials contravened the Civil Servant Service Act (公務員服務法), deeming Hsieh responsible for workplace bullying and finding that Tsai did not provide sufficient supervision and oversight, the Control Yuan said today in a news release.
After a 39-year-old civil servant was found dead in their office, allegations emerged on the social media platform Threads that the employee had experienced workplace bullying and harassment.
An internal Ministry of Labor investigation found that the employee worked long periods of overtime, had an excessive workload, faced pressure to succeed and had a lack of support from their peers, although it said that Hsieh’s management style was not directly responsible for their death.
Hsieh was fired on Nov. 20 after receiving two major demerits during a performance review.
She was then reported for negligent homicide, but following an investigation, prosecutors chose not to indict her.
On April 2, the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office charged her with embezzlement and profiteering under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例).
Hsieh was held incommunicado from December, but was released on bail of NT$1 million (US$30,576) on April 8.
The Control Yuan's investigation found that Hsieh had misused the ministry's Employment Stabilization Fund to purchase lavish gift boxes, embezzled public funds and failed to comply with procurement regulations.
These actions contravened the Civil Servant Service Act and the civil servant code of conduct, it found.
Hsieh’s management style was overly harsh and authoritarian, and she frequently reprimanded, insulted and demeaned her subordinates, leading to a high staff turnover and long-term effects on the mental and physical health of her employees, the investigation found.
Her leadership style resulted in a lack of communication and feedback, the impeachment document said.
Meanwhile, the investigation found that Tsai had contravened Articles 1 and 6 of the Civil Servant Service Act.
Tsai promoted Hsieh to branch director without adequately assessing her leadership capabilities, the Control Yuan said.
Tsai then failed to address or take corrective action against Hsieh’s emotional instability and problematic leadership style, often giving her high performance evaluations, it said.
These failures only enabled Hsieh, the Control Yuan said.
Following the worker’s death, Tsai insisted the incident was due to personal issues and failed to launch a thorough investigation, persuading superiors not to demand a written report, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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