NongHyup Employee Holds Multi-Level Marketing Side Job During Work... Court Rules "Dismissal Justified"

1st Trial "Dismissal Invalid"... 2nd Trial Reverses Verdict
Court: "Disrupted Corporate Order"

A court ruling has upheld the dismissal of employees who engaged in multi-level marketing as a 'second job' during working hours.

Mr. Jeong, who was a deputy general manager at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup), sold health functional foods as a distributor for a multi-level marketing company to his colleagues from 2016 and was caught and dismissed in 2018. Jeong filed a lawsuit against the company in 2019, claiming the disciplinary action was unfair, and the first trial court ruled the dismissal invalid.

While violations such as breach of the prohibition on concurrent employment and sales activities targeting internal employees during working hours were grounds for discipline, the court found the level of discipline excessive. The ruling was based on the fact that the multi-level marketing did not conflict with NongHyup’s business areas and that Jeong never forced colleagues to purchase products.

NongHyup Central Association [Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, NongHyup presented to the court cases of four employees from NongHyup Bank who were dismissed, two suspended, and two demoted for similar activities as multi-level marketing distributors like Jeong.

Accordingly, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 1 overturned the first trial’s decision on the 7th and ruled against the plaintiff. Referring to the precedents presented by NongHyup, the court judged Jeong’s misconduct to be as serious as those who received severe disciplinary actions at NongHyup Bank and deemed his dismissal justified.

The court also pointed out, “Although it is difficult to say that Jeong directly caused significant damage to NongHyup, he disrupted corporate order.”

Meanwhile, one employee dismissed from NongHyup Bank received a ruling of unfair dismissal from the Labor Relations Commission, and NongHyup Bank has filed a lawsuit against the commission. The second trial is currently underway at the Seoul High Court.

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