Summary:
The body of the 39-year-old employee, identified by his surname Wu (吳), was discovered at the Executive Yuan's Xinzhuang Joint Office Tower in New Taipei on Nov. 4, amid speculation on social media that workplace bullying by his supervisor Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) had driven the civil servant to take his own life.
A report issued by the Ministry of Labour (MOL)Lab showed no evidence linking Hsieh to Wu's suicide, though Labour Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said on Tuesday that Hsieh's management style and "control over her emotions" were "inappropriate" and "resulted in staff feeling like they were being bullied in the workplace."
However, Ho went on to say that Hsieh was "not the direct cause" of Wu's death, which instead was attributed to an "excessive workload," "too much stress" and a "lack of support resources."
Ho's remarks triggered an outcry, resulting in Hsieh being sacked after lawmakers across party lines criticized the ministry's response on Wednesday, when President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) made anti-bullying statements. Cho has since accepted the resignation of Ho in the wake of the controversy over her handling of this case.
On Friday (22 Nov), Hsieh issued a pre-recorded video offering an apology to Wu's family saying she failed to provide him with timely assistance.
She also apologized to her colleagues, blaming herself for making them anxious due to her communication style and emotion management.
In the roughly 6-minute-and-50-second video, although Hsieh had a sad face and choked up several times, TW netizens discovered that there were no tears seen throughout the entire video, which made TW netizens dissatisfied. Some people sarcastically said, "The acting is very bad, she can't even squeeze out tears", "The condescending perspective, coupled with the moving acting, perfectly interprets the arrogance and arrogance of the perpetrator", "She didn't squeeze out a single tear, thank you for your hard work", "It perfectly interprets what crocodile tears are", and "It made me even angrier after watching it. Why did she keep pursing her lips and pretending to sob?"
Audio recording of Hsieh scolding her staff
https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202411220008
谢宜容哭7分钟挤不出1滴泪 网讽:完美诠释「鳄鱼眼泪」
https://nextapple.com.sg/politics/20241122/EC7DC9700800A100BCC66DC0B9153554