Eastar Jet, which laid off over 600 employees... Court rules "Not an unfair dismissal"

Eastar Jet's decision to lay off about 600 employees for business reasons was ruled by the court not to be an unfair dismissal.

The Administrative 13th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Park Jeong-dae) on the 2nd ruled against 29 former Eastar Jet employees who filed a lawsuit against the Chairman of the Central Labor Commission (CLC), demanding the cancellation of the retrial decision for unfair dismissal relief.

The court stated, "Considering the outbreak of COVID-19 at the time of dismissal, travel-related issues, and the company's continuous capital erosion, it is recognized that there was an urgent business necessity that made it inevitable to carry out layoffs."

The court also ruled, "The company made every effort to avoid dismissal, selected the layoff targets based on objective and fair criteria, and consulted with employee representatives," concluding that "Eastar Jet's layoffs for business reasons are justified."

Earlier, Eastar Jet laid off 605 employees in October 2020 due to financial difficulties, and among them, 44 applied for relief at the Seoul Regional Labor Commission (SRLC). The SRLC ruled that 41 of the dismissals were unfair, stating that Eastar Jet could not be seen as having actively utilized the employment retention support system.

Eastar Jet appealed the SRLC's decision to the CLC, and when the CLC overturned the SRLC's ruling, the employees filed an administrative lawsuit.