Managers of the girl group NewJeans accuse ADOR CEO, Ju Young Kim, of bullying the quintet and the company retaliates; understand!
Far from over! More lawsuits and accusations regarding the termination of the girl group NewJeans’ contract with ADOR and HYBE were released by the Korean company this Tuesday, the 10th.
Recently the company took legal action against the quintet to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract, however, the members justified themselves in relation to the process.
Our trust in ADOR and HYBE has already collapsed. They failed to fulfill their obligation to adequately protect artists and repeatedly violated the terms of the contract. As stated in the contract, we no longer have any reason to work with ADOR and HYBE.
Causing even more uproar in the case, an ADOR staff member claimed to be suffering harassment from the company after the group’s termination. Also, according to Korean media (Via Channel A News), a manager, referred to in the article as “A”, from NewJeans accused the CEO of ADOR, Ju Young Kimbullying in the workplace.
“1. They tricked me into thinking we had a business negotiation and then suddenly gave me a waiting notice and demanded that I return my home laptop immediately. Despite asking to leave work, they illegally confirmed me for about three hours until the laptop was returned. (Violation of Article 7 of the Labor Standards Law, workplace bullying).
2. Forced me to send my personal cell phone without any legal basis. (moral harassment in the workplace).
3. I backed up all work-related data online to the company drive and only had personal data left on my laptop. Even though I formatted my laptop, they started an investigation, saying they would use this as a basis for disciplinary action because I formatted it (workplace bullying)
Quickly, just this Tuesday, ADOR responded to the accusations by stating that the manager seriously violated the policies of the contract signed by them and threatened imminent legal action.
“Recently, an employee responsible for the artist’s management contacted an advertiser directly, bypassing the company, and attempted to facilitate a direct contract between the artist and the brand. The manager admitted to having been involved in this communication. This constitutes a serious violation of company policy as it helps violate the artist’s exclusivity contract.
As a member of ADOR, the manager is obliged to ensure that the exclusivity contract between the company and the artist is properly fulfilled. According to the exclusivity contract, the artist is obliged to carry out his entertainment activities exclusively through ADOR.”
In addition to the explanation of the contract, the company reported that the manager was on administrative leave and demanded the return of company assets, including a company laptop, also claiming that he sent the work laptop only after formatting it in a way that made data recovery impossible. The company says this prevented them from identifying what information was deleted.
Read the translation:
“ADOR immediately initiated an investigation and provided the manager with sufficient opportunities to explain his actions. However, the manager did not cooperate with the investigation, making false statements that contradict clear evidence… There was no illegal confinement or coercive action during this process.
We have repeatedly requested meetings with the manager to give them a chance to explain their actions, but the manager has rejected all requests.
The manager only sent the laptop hours after being asked to do so, having obtained it from someone else, and delivered it after completely formatting it to make the data unrecoverable. As a result, it is impossible to check which data was deleted during the formatting process.
We plan to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and take necessary legal action.”
Source: Recreio
