Court clears apartment complex manager who ordered worker to pick persimmons before fall

A court has ruled that an apartment complex manager bears no legal responsibility for injuries suffered by a maintenance worker who fell while picking persimmons on the manager's orders.

The Seoul Eastern District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 5, presided over by Judge Kim Yang-hun, on Tuesday dismissed prosecutors' appeal against the acquittal of apartment complex manager Kwon, 70, and the building management company. Both had been indicted on charges of occupational negligence causing bodily injury and violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, but were found not guilty at trial.

On Oct. 17, 2023, Kwon ordered worker A, who was in his 60s, and others to pick persimmons from a persimmon tree in a flower bed.

A climbed onto a tree branch without any safety equipment and fell about 4 meters when the branch snapped, sustaining a cervical spine fracture and other injuries requiring 29 weeks of medical treatment.

Prosecutors brought the case to trial, arguing that Kwon and the company had assigned dangerous work that led to A's injuries. The first-instance court acquitted them in April, however.

The lower court found no evidence that Kwon had directly instructed A to climb the persimmon tree.

It also ruled that obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act — such as installing work scaffolding — are primarily recognized in high-altitude construction and building sites, and were therefore difficult to apply to this case.

The appeals court on Tuesday upheld that reasoning, saying the lower court's judgment was justified.