Court Sentences Employee Who Reported 'Workplace Bullying' to 2 Million Won Fine for "Defamation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A former employee who accused the content production company 'Celeb' CEO of workplace harassment was fined after being indicted for spreading false information.

According to the court on the 3rd, Judge Park Chang-hee of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 12 sentenced former Celeb employee A to a fine of 2 million won for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation) in a trial held last April.

In 2018, A posted on their Facebook exposing workplace harassment by then-Celeb CEO Lim Sang-hoon. The court stated regarding the part of the post that said, "On some days, the entire group went to a room salon, and female employees had to choose a woman and sit next to her," that "It is true that hostesses were present," but "It is not reasonable based on experience to have female employees choose women, and since the defendant only heard from others and wrote this in the post, it is reasonable to consider that they tacitly recognized their writing could be false."

Since the female employee who relayed the 'room salon gathering' story denies the content, and considering the content and expression method of A’s post, the way it was spread, and the motive or circumstances, it was concluded that A revealed false facts with the intent to defame the CEO.

Regarding A’s statement that "even if the condition was not good, everyone had to drink at least three bottles of soju before leaving," the court said, "It appears that there was some degree of coercion in drinking methods such as 'wave drinking' or forced shots during the gathering," but "other employees besides the defendant testified that there was no atmosphere of forced drinking."

Former CEO Lim resigned after the exposure but filed a defamation lawsuit against A a month later. It is also known that he filed a civil defamation suit demanding 50 million won in damages. Recently, A’s side filed an appeal against the first trial verdict with the court.

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