Labor Office imposes fine on Min Hee-jin for 'workplace harassment'... "Appeal filed"

Workplace Harassment Recognized... Preliminary Notice of Fine Issued
Min's Side States, "Some Parts Are Not True"

Former ADORE CEO Min Hee-jin is expected to be fined by the Ministry of Labor after being reported for workplace harassment by a former employee.

On the 25th, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Seoul Western Branch of the Ministry preliminarily notified that it would impose a fine on former CEO Min for committing workplace harassment and failing to objectively investigate the harassment as an employer. The Seoul Western Branch stated, "Min’s continuous remarks to the victim exceeded the appropriate scope of work, causing physical and mental distress to the complainant or worsening the work environment, which is deemed workplace harassment," and added, "A fine was imposed on the perpetrator (former CEO Min), and the case was administratively closed."

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, is making a statement regarding the conflict with the parent company HYBE at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in April last year. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Earlier, a former employee who left ADORE last year filed a complaint with HYBE, stating, "I was subjected to workplace harassment by a close associate of former CEO Min, but Min covered for the associate and verbally abused me to suppress the issue." In the past, Min directly denied the employee’s claims regarding this matter. At the time, he suggested that "there may be other backgrounds to the employee’s harassment claims," raising suspicions about HYBE. However, the employee insisted, "I am not related to HYBE," and repeatedly demanded an apology from former CEO Min.

According to Article 76-3 of the Labor Standards Act, an employer who receives a report of workplace harassment or becomes aware of it must promptly conduct an objective investigation to verify the facts. Although the amount of the fine imposed on former CEO Min has not been disclosed, under current law, an employer who commits workplace harassment may be fined up to 10 million KRW, and a fine of up to 5 million KRW may be imposed for failing to fulfill the obligation of a "prompt objective investigation."

A representative of former CEO Min stated regarding the fine notification, "There are parts of the investigation that are not true," and added, "We will submit our opinion and raise objections."