The manager of the group NewJeans has accused Adore's CEO Kim Joo-young of workplace harassment, and emails exchanged between A and CEO Kim have been made public.
On the 11th, Channel A reported that NewJeans manager A sent a complaint email to CEO Kim Joo-young, to which Adore responded.
First, in the email sent to CEO Kim, A questioned, "Do you think it is a personal matter to call me back to the company urgently for a discussion after I had already finished work and to conduct an investigation?" and added, "I did not even think of an investigation, so I did not bring my PC, and even though I said I would return it tomorrow if necessary, you insisted that I had to hand it over today and did not let me go home."
A continued, "I was not at the company because I wanted to be there, and you forcibly prevented me from leaving when I said I would go tomorrow, which is nothing but coercion. You even said, 'The security team checked the CCTV and said you entered the building with a suitcase,' trying to test me with false information, and you conducted the investigation in an impersonal and unreasonable manner by saying you would contact my parents through the emergency contact list in the HR information to verify the facts."
A also refuted Adore's claim that they pressured advertisers to directly contract with NewJeans without the company's involvement.
A stated that they only conveyed NewJeans' intention to fulfill the advertising contract that was signed before the termination of the exclusive contract, as it is the manager's duty, and emphasized that they never made any statements that could be misunderstood as the members' intentions being related to Adore.
A expressed, "In this confusing situation, I was the one who respected the company and the members while proceeding with the schedule, while the Adore executives never provided any feedback or showed any interest in the schedule to us on-site. Also, when external companies inquired about where to deposit the schedule guarantees, I said it should be done through Adore," and added, "It is unreasonable to say that I engaged in misconduct."
Additionally, regarding the suspicion that A arbitrarily deleted work-related information using a company laptop, A stated, "I backed up all company data and showed evidence of the backup. I formatted the PC to submit it because there were personal files in addition to company data, and I did not damage the PC itself or the company data contained within it. Please do not intimidate me by casually labeling my actions as illegal or misconduct."
Finally, A questioned CEO Kim's request for their personal phone, saying, "What right do you have to contact me to look at my phone? Do you think you are some investigative agency with a search warrant? I am once again astonished by your illegal actions and appalled to see false statements being made to the media."
In response to A's email, Adore also issued a rebuttal.
Adore stated to A, "You mention that you were called in as if you were the only one leaving work, despite there being other meetings at the company that day," "Even if you simply conveyed the artist's intentions, such actions would infringe on the company's interests, so you should have refused or at least informed the management to coordinate," "Submitting a completely formatted work PC in a deceptive manner is unjust," and "There is reason to suspect that the deleted data may contain information related to misconduct."
Earlier, on the 10th, it was revealed that A had reported CEO Kim to the Ministry of Employment and Labor for workplace harassment. A cited the following as grounds for the workplace harassment allegation: ▲ Adore's demand for the submission of a laptop while detaining A for about three hours ▲ The request for the submission of a personal mobile phone without legal grounds ▲ Initiating an investigation citing the formatting of the laptop as a disciplinary reason.
In response, Adore claimed that A pressured advertisers to contract with artists while excluding the company, stating, "This is a serious act that aids in the violation of the artist's exclusive contract." They also asserted, "There was no illegal detention or coercive actions during this process," and stated, "We will take legal action after a thorough investigation."
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
