The lawyer confirmed that there was a case of sexual harassment among Hee Jin's staff. However, Hee Jin denied allegations of trying to cover up the case because the perpetrator was allegedly a male executive of ADOR.
NewJeans CEO Min Hee Jin has recently been accused of covering up sexual harassment by her staff. As the allegations grew, the woman, through her lawyer from the Sejong law firm, released a clarification on Monday (7/29).
The lawyer confirmed that there was indeed a case of sexual harassment among Hee Jin's staff. "The sexual harassment case mentioned was concluded as 'not guilty' by the HYBE Personnel Committee on March 16," said the lawyer.
The lawyer blamed HYBE for making the case public to attack Hee Jin's reputation. "It is unfair to bring up the issue again and suddenly make a different interpretation to attack CEO Min Hee Jin," added the lawyer.
The lawyer then explained how the process of resolving the sexual harassment case was. "The meeting mentioned, which involved the staff in the matter, was arranged to understand the work after the appointment on February 1. The employee also agreed to attend. The meeting was resolved without any problems," continued the lawyer.
The representative also denied allegations that Hee Jin tried to cover up the case because the alleged perpetrator of sexual harassment was a male executive of ADOR. According to the chat content spread by Dispatch, Hee Jin used harsh words to criticize the victim of harassment.
The lawyer emphasized that Hee Jin was impartial and listened to explanations from both parties. "CEO Min Hee Jin listened to both parties' opinions with an impartial attitude, tried to mediate the conflict, and faithfully played a role in preventing similar problems from happening again in the future through caution and warnings," he said.
Hee Jin is also said to have submitted a proposal to HYBE to demand a better system for staff. "She also submitted a proposal to HYBE to demand better system operations, such as improving HR procedures and increasing transparency," the lawyer added.
Finally, the lawyer criticized HYBE's actions in leaking Hee Jin's private conversations for Dispatch to spread. "Revealing private conversations is an act of personal attack and has nothing to do with the essence of the problem. In addition, it is clearly illegal to reveal private conversations to a third party," the lawyer concluded. (wk/amal)
