Taipei: Taiwan's Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers on Wednesday regarding her management of an incident involving a civil servant's suicide at work. The case has now been referred to both supervisory and judicial branches for separate investigations.According to Focus Taiwan, Ho Pei-shan wept repeatedly while being interrogated by the Legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee. The committee has requested the Control Yuan and the Disciplinary Court to conduct independent investigations into the incident. Opposition lawmakers criticized Ho for being excessively lenient towards Hsieh Yi-jung, a regional branch chief of the Work Development Agency (WDA), who has been accused of bullying the deceased civil servant and others. Lawmakers have called for Hsieh's suspension.On Tuesday, Ho indicated that she would consider disciplining Hsieh, who leads the WDA's northern regional branch, and possibly transferring her to another department. Speculations have sinc e emerged about whether Hsieh would resign, but she declared via a social media message to CNA on Wednesday: "I am not resigning."During the legislative hearing, Ho remarked, "I don't have the authority to immediately suspend Hsieh Yi-jung," but mentioned that she had instructed her subordinate to undergo a performance review, which could lead to Hsieh's suspension. Under Taiwan's public service system, disciplinary actions against ranking officials require approval from the performance review committee.Ho accepted "responsibility" for the incident but contended that the "civil service system has many challenges" that are "difficult to control." When asked by Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Liao Wei-hsiang if she would resign to "take political responsibility," Ho replied affirmatively, though she has not yet submitted her resignation to Premier Cho Jung-tai, who confirmed not receiving any such letter.At a press briefing later on Wednesday, Premier Cho apologized publicly and confirmed the transfer of the ca se to judicial authorities. He warned that "bullying must not be tolerated again," urging all ministry and department heads to heed this incident.Previously, Ho's ministry held a press conference detailing the findings of an internal investigation into the worker's death, concluding that Hsieh's "management style" and "control over her emotions," while "inappropriate," were not the "direct cause" of the suicide. Instead, the report pointed to "excessive workload," "too much stress," and a "lack of support resources" as the primary reasons.Ho announced that Hsieh, WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang, and two other supervisors would undergo performance reviews, which were ongoing as of Wednesday. The ministry's internal investigation began after the body of the 39-year-old worker, identified only by his surname Wu, was discovered in the ministry's office in New Taipei on Nov. 4. Social media speculation suggested workplace bullying as a driving factor in Wu's suicide.