The first hearing for the damages lawsuit against colleague weathercaster A, who has been accused of workplace bullying against the late MBC weathercaster Oh Yoanna, was held, during which A's side claimed, "There was absolutely no workplace bullying."
On the 22nd, the 48th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Kim Do-kyun) held the first hearing for the damages claim lawsuit filed by the deceased's family against A.
On this day, both sides engaged in a heated debate over the issue of 'workplace bullying.' The family claimed that Oh's death was due to workplace bullying by A, while A's lawyer countered, stating, "There was no bullying."
A's lawyer expressed regret and condolences but argued that there is no causal relationship recognized between Oh's death and A.
A's side stated, "The family claims that Oh was a victim of workplace bullying by editing parts of conversations without considering the overall context of the situation," and emphasized, "A has never engaged in workplace bullying, and claiming that A's actions caused Oh's death distorts the facts."
They added, "Most importantly, the incident occurred around 2022, two years before the time of death, and until then, the two maintained a good relationship. Considering that Oh was struggling with personal issues and malicious comments recently, it is difficult to recognize a causal relationship between Oh's death and A." They also mentioned that A's side submitted the full text of their KakaoTalk conversations to the court.
In response to these claims, the family emphasized, "While there may be some conversations that appear to show a good relationship on KakaoTalk, the fact remains that A bullied Oh and that she experienced mental distress," and added, "The friendly tone of their conversations was likely to avoid upsetting a superior at work, not indicative of a good relationship."
The family filed a damages lawsuit against A for 510 million won last December. The complaint reportedly includes claims of verbal abuse and unfair directives as workplace bullying that occurred from October 2021 until the deceased's death in September of last year.
A did not submit a statement after the lawsuit was filed, prompting the family to request a judgment date without a hearing, which the court set for March 27. However, A appointed a legal representative two days before the ruling and submitted a preparatory document, leading to the cancellation of the judgment without a hearing and the continuation of the trial.
Oh Yoanna passed away in September of last year. It was only in December, three months later, that the news of her death was reported, and in January, a will and evidence of workplace bullying were found on her mobile phone.
Following this, MBC established an investigation committee to conduct an inquiry, and the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Administration and the Seoul Western District Office began a joint special labor inspection. The Ministry of Employment and Labor acknowledged on May 19 that "repeated statements that were difficult to justify as necessary for work" constituted bullying against the deceased, but stated that they could not consider her an employee of MBC, thus the 'Workplace Bullying Prevention System' could not be applied.
MBC stated, "We take the results of the special labor inspection seriously and will do our best to implement measures to prevent recurrence, improve organizational culture, and comply with labor laws." MBC terminated its contract with A and renewed contracts with the other three individuals who were also accused of bullying.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
