"Samsung Electronics Work Environment Report Is a Trade Secret, Not Subject to Disclosure"… Samsung Wins Again in Second Trial

Court: "Disclosure of Work Environment Reports Raises Concerns Over Trade Secret Exposure"
Industry Also States, "Work Environment Reports Contain Decades of Process Know-How Built by Companies"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The court ruled in favor of Samsung Electronics in the lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which had ordered the disclosure of the ‘Work Environment Measurement Result Report,’ stating once again in the second trial that there is no obligation to disclose it due to trade secrets.

The Administrative Division 1 of Suwon High Court (Chief Judge Kwang-man Lee) on the 13th ruled in the information partial disclosure cancellation lawsuit filed by Samsung Electronics against the head of the Gyeonggi Branch of the Central Employment and Labor Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stating, "It is difficult to recognize that Samsung Electronics’ work environment report corresponds to information that needs to be disclosed," and partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff as in the first trial.

The appellate court judged that the work environment report contains information from which details such as the layout of processes and facilities, production capacity, trends in production volume changes, and the degree of process automation can be inferred, and that disclosure could harm Samsung’s legitimate interests.

It also stated, "Considering that the plaintiff discloses the work environment measurement results to its affiliated workers according to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, that all ‘hazardous factors’ and ‘measurement values’ directly related to life, body, or health are subject to disclosure, and that the exposure levels of hazardous factors at the plaintiff’s factories have so far appeared to be below the legal exposure standards."

Earlier, the first trial court also delivered the same ruling as the appellate court in August last year. The first trial court stated, “It is difficult to say that the general public’s right to know about very detailed information related to semiconductor processes, such as department and process names and unit workplaces, should take precedence over the interests of the plaintiff, a profit-making corporation, which should be protected in relation to competitors.”

This lawsuit began early last year when workers and their families who had worked at Samsung affiliates and were diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma requested the work environment report to use it to prove industrial accidents. The work environment report is a document in which the employer measures and evaluates the degree of workers’ exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace and records the results. Employers submit this to the local employment and labor office every six months.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor decided to disclose the work environment report, but Samsung opposed, arguing that contents such as ‘department and process names’ and ‘unit workplaces’ are core to semiconductor processes, which are the result of massive research and development and investment, and thus constitute significant management and trade secrets. Samsung filed an administrative appeal to cancel the Ministry’s decision and also applied for suspension of execution and filed a lawsuit. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Semiconductor Expert Committee also judged in April 2018 that the Samsung Electronics work environment report contains process names and forms, chemicals used, and quantities, allowing core technologies to be sufficiently inferred, and that disclosure could lead to leakage of national core technologies.

The Central Administrative Appeals Commission partially accepted Samsung’s claims in July of the same year, and the Suwon District Court also ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in the main lawsuit in August last year. Earlier, the ‘Banolim’ (Semiconductor Workers’ Health and Human Rights Organization) filed a lawsuit against the Central Administrative Appeals Commission’s decision at the Seoul Administrative Court, but in February this year, the court ruled against the plaintiff with a similar reasoning.

A source from the semiconductor industry said, "We provide work environment measurement results, hazardous factor presence, and values to workers claiming industrial accidents," adding, "The work environment report contains process technology and know-how accumulated over decades, which could be leaked to competitors, so it is difficult for companies to disclose it."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.