🔗 [Exclusive] Former ADOR Employee ‘B’ Files Criminal & Civil Complaints Against CEO Min Hee-jin
🔗 [Exclusive] “Sacrificed in the Fight Between Two Companies”… Former Employee Who Reported ADOR Executive Speaks Out / JTBC Newsroom

Q. Executive A has completely denied the sexual harassment allegations.

“As shown in the materials CEO Min Hee-jin disclosed on her SNS on July 31, Mr. A is already aware that he engaged in inappropriate speech and conduct. Although it is difficult to give details, CEO Min hated it terribly when her employees had meals with business partners. I, too, once had an experience of being scolded by the CEO for about an hour and a half after having a lunch meeting with a partner. Therefore, the claim that I wanted to go to the meal gathering in question of my own will is a stretch. And no matter how much Mr. A denies the allegations, the fact remains that on his 5th day at the company, he told me, ‘Rather than two men seeing each other, it’s better for the atmosphere and conversation flows better if there is a young woman present.’”

Q. Why didn’t you report it immediately at the time?

“Although I felt Mr. A’s remark was unreasonable, he had just been in office for 5 days and was my direct evaluator. It was difficult to refuse the instructions of a superior, the Vice President, and I didn’t want to sour the relationship right after his appointment, so I tried to forget it and move on.”

Q. It is said you received a job offer.

“I received a job offer on April 6. However, they attempted mediation only after I had expressed my intention to resign and returned all corporate cards and laptops. At the time, the salary proposed by the company was cut by 40%, and the condition was to work with Mr. A. There was no reason for me to accept it.”

Q. CEO Min disclosed Ms. B’s salary in her statement. Did you receive prior contact regarding the salary disclosure?

“I received absolutely none.”

Q. Mr. A claimed that Ms. B mocked his salary.

“I swear I have never disparaged Mr. A’s salary. I remember the situation at the time accurately. While eating at a dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) restaurant, the topic of salary came up. As Mr. A said his salary was low, I advised him, ‘You are a remarkable person, so it would be good if you tried to raise your salary more.’ But out of nowhere, a week later, he told me, ‘I made a lot of money, so don’t worry.’ At that time, since I didn’t know the context, I congratulated him saying, ‘That turned out so well.’ But thinking about it later, it seemed he had been holding a grudge about the salary talk.”

Q. It was also said your interim evaluation score was low.

“You can think of the interim evaluation score as a mock exam, simply put. Just because you do poorly on a mock exam doesn’t mean you fail the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). And in the final evaluation, I received an average of 3.7 points (out of 5) from executives excluding Mr. A. Only Mr. A gave me ‘1.7 points.’”

Q. When was the interim evaluation?

“I don’t remember exactly, but I understand the evaluation took place roughly around November (of last year).”

Q. What is the salary reduction meeting?

“On February 22 at 8 PM, he suddenly called me, whose working hours had ended, to the conference room. Surprised, when I arrived at the conference venue, Mr. A and another executive, Mr. C, were there. Then, an impromptu ‘salary reduction meeting’ began.”

Q. Was there prior notice regarding the salary reduction?

“There was prior notice. However, it was a notification-style notice like ‘Do you want a salary cut, or do you want to resign?’ In the aforementioned ‘salary reduction meeting,’ Mr. A forced me to state my aspirations, saying, ‘Let’s have an interview again.’ If I had known beforehand that the meeting would be held, I would have prepared for the interview at least a day in advance.”

Q. What was the result of the meeting?

“I said I would actively consider staying. I said I would work receiving a salary cut by 40%. Even so, he hurt me with comments like ‘Your attitude is bad,’ ‘If you’re not sure, it’s better to part ways quickly,’ and ‘If you can’t talk about your aspirations, we have to fail you.’”

Q. CEO Min claimed that discord with team members was frequent.

“It was just minor discord arising while working. Any office worker would agree. It is true that friction occurred early in my employment because our ways of handling work were different, but it was resolved soon, and we are close enough to be in contact even now. If discord had been frequent, I wouldn’t have been able to wrap up work well upon resignation in March and continue personal friendships with some of them.”

Q. Is it true that Mr. A gave unjust work orders?

“He gets annoyed while giving work orders on weekends, avoids necessary meetings, and makes unreasonable demands citing that he cannot multitask. Let me give you a few examples.
First, he postpones or doesn’t hold necessary meetings. For example, he asks for research on comprehensive content at 3 PM on Friday and tells me to have it done by Saturday morning, without explaining the work instructions. Even when I try to schedule a preliminary meeting to narrow down the scope of comprehensive expressions like ‘global artist’ in the instructions and make them concrete, he asks back ‘I’m curious what you are curious about’ and tries to avoid meetings that explain the work. Eventually, inefficiency occurred as I prepared reports for the sake of reporting, and I experienced difficulties in work progress.
Second, even while engaging in personal contact, he tells me to stop personal contact immediately if another group chat room becomes active. The reason is that he cannot multitask and gets confused. In a busy company, I think checking other group chat rooms and reporting, then stopping, is inefficient and an excessive instruction. Third, he nitpicks and gets annoyed. I didn’t see that the group chat room had become active, but I replied ‘haha’ to mean I would wait for discussion, and I was scolded with ‘Is this funny to you?’”

Q. CEO Min claimed that the duration she knew both people was similar.

“That is a lie. CEO Min knew Mr. A for longer than me. As can be seen from other media reports, the two continuously exchanged contact even in January, before his employment.”

Q. CEO Min suspected a collusive relationship between Ms. B and HYBE to the extent of asking, “Are you HYBE?”

“I am an individual, not HYBE. While being investigated regarding the dispute between HYBE and ADOR in April through a HYBE officer, I learned of CEO Min Hee-jin’s inappropriate actions. I have no interests with HYBE, and since there is responsibility on the HYBE side as well, I plan to send a certification of contents to seek remedy for my damages.”

Q. Is there anything you want from CEO Min?

“I requested a sincere apology and correction of facts, but after the clarification statement that blurred the point, she is not giving any answer and is only active on SNS.”

Q. If CEO Min apologizes, do you plan to stop all these actions?

“From August 14, when I uploaded the second statement, I forewarned legal action. Until then, if I received a sincere apology and CEO Min corrected the facts, I intended to stop. However, on August 18, after receiving the content of the apology cancellation from the Vice President and being threatened with a lawsuit, my thoughts changed. I intend to continue legal action going forward.”