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Immigration
E-9 Unfair Dismissal Administrative Lawsuit
2026-09-03
A success story: an E-9 foreign worker's case that lost repeatedly at the Labor Relations Commission — we obtained recognition of unfair dismissal through administrative litigation and won all the way to the Seoul High Court
For E-9 (non-professional employment) foreign workers who come to Korea with hopes and work hard, a visa and a job are practically their whole life. In reality, however, no small number of workers lose their jobs overnight when a company files a "departure report" on its own initiative or suddenly notifies them of dismissal. Many go to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Labor Relations Commission, only to fail to get the outcome they wanted, and come close to giving up altogether.
Kwon & Partners Law Firm took on the case of an E-9 foreign worker who had lost repeatedly at the Labor Relations Commission, and refused to give up — carrying the fight through to administrative litigation. As a result, we won consecutive victories at the Seoul Administrative Court and the Seoul High Court, achieving full recognition that the dismissal had indeed been unfair.
Our client, Mr. A, was an E-9 foreign worker of Pakistani nationality who had been working diligently at a workplace in Korea. Then, without warning, the company unilaterally filed a departure report citing "unauthorized absence and no contact," and stopped assigning him any work.
Mr. A filed for relief seeking recognition that he had been unfairly dismissed, but the Regional Labor Relations Commission rejected his claim. He then applied again to the National Labor Relations Commission, but that too was dismissed. With these repeated losses, he found himself on the verge of losing both his residency status and his job at once.
| ✔ This case shows that even a matter lost twice before the Labor Relations Commission can be fully turned around and won at the administrative litigation stage, through careful evidence analysis and a properly built legal strategy. |
1Evidence analysis that overturned the employer's claims
The company claimed that the worker had left his post first, without authorization. In fact, we uncovered — piece by piece — the circumstances showing it was the company that had deliberately withheld work and unilaterally filed the departure report.
2A legal argument built around the unique nature of E-9 status
We addressed both the particular circumstances of E-9 residency status and the legal principles restricting dismissal under Korean labor relations law together. On this basis, we coherently argued that the company's action was a clear case of unfair dismissal carried out without just cause or proper procedure.
3Filing administrative litigation and mounting a meticulous defense
To challenge the Labor Relations Commission's ruling itself as mistaken, we filed suit with the Seoul Administrative Court to revoke the reconsideration decision, and carried the advocacy through to the very end with meticulous care.
"The court's judgment was
completely different from the Labor Relations Commission's original decision."
1Victory at the Seoul Administrative Court
The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff — the worker. It handed down a judgment for the plaintiff, ordering that the National Labor Relations Commission's reconsideration decision be revoked.
2Victory at the Seoul High Court (final)
The opposing party appealed this ruling, but the Seoul High Court likewise rejected the appeal and upheld the judgment in the plaintiff's favor as it stood. The judgment thereby became final.
In the end, after a long and difficult legal battle, Mr. A obtained legal recognition that this case had clearly been an "unfair dismissal," opening the way to relief.
When I took on this case, I did not give up simply because the record showed two consecutive losses at the Labor Relations Commission. I went back through the case file from the very beginning, identifying every weakness in the company's claims one by one, and devoted the greatest effort to carefully building a legal argument so that the worker's E-9 status would not be used against him. If you are a foreign worker who has suffered an unjust situation simply because the language or the system is unfamiliar, please do not hesitate to consult directly with me, Attorney Kwon Hyuk-seong of Kwon & Partners Law Firm.
⚖️ Are your rights being unjustly violated simply because you are a foreign worker, or because the language and the system are unfamiliar to you?
Kwon & Partners stands as a steadfast shield for workers who have been unjustly dismissed, working to bring the truth to light until the very end. If you are struggling with an unfair dismissal, a departure report, or a Labor Relations Commission case, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.