HYBE And ADOR Come Under Labor Ministry’s Investigation For Alleged Harassment Of NewJeans
This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
According to reports on September 13, KST, the Ministry of Employment and Labor registered a formal complaint accusing ADOR and its parent company, HYBE, of violating labor laws in their treatment of NewJeans.
The Korean news outlet Women’s News reported that a fan-submitted complaint about NewJeans was recently submitted to the Seoul Western Employment Labor Office. A representative from the ministry confirmed that they would be probing the matter accordingly.
This complaint came in the context of the guerilla livestream of the NewJeans members on September 11, where they expressed their wish for Min Hee Jin to be reinstated and ADOR to be restored to its previous state by September 25. During the livestream, Hanni also made a bombshell exposé, claiming that the manager of another HYBE group had encouraged them to ignore her when she had greeted them at the agency building.
The livestream created quite an outrage among the fans of NewJeans, who accused HYBE and ADOR of violating labor laws in their treatment of the members. Many filed workplace harassment complaints to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. In fact, according to the ministry, as of September 13, they received over 100 complaints regarding NewJeans and ADOR.
According to the labor rights group “Workplace Bullying 119,” Hanni’s being ignored by her colleagues at HYBE could be considered workplace harassment under South Korean labor laws. Since the NewJeans members are under a contract with their agency, providing labor and being paid for it, they qualify to fall under the jurisdiction of labor laws for employees.
The labor inspector in charge has confirmed that the investigation into the complaint will be carried out according to the usual procedure.
Meanwhile, reports are suggesting that NewJeans might attempt to leave HYBE through a legal battle. You can read more about it here.
