Kumho Tire Partner Company Workers Lose Lawsuit Over Direct Employment

Kumho Tire Gwangju Plant exterior. Photo by Yonhap News

Temporary workers employed by Kumho Tire’s partner companies have lost a lawsuit demanding direct employment by Kumho Tire.

On November 10, the Gwangju District Court’s Civil Division 11 (Presiding Judge Hong Kichan) announced that it had ruled against the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by Mr. A and 17 others seeking confirmation of their employment status with Kumho Tire.

Mr. A and the others worked as temporary employees in 2021 at partner companies of Kumho Tire’s Gwangju and Gokseong plants.

During the period when they worked, Kumho Tire was in the process of directly hiring hundreds of workers from partner companies in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling related to a similar lawsuit.

The service contract between Kumho Tire and the partner companies employing Mr. A and others was originally set to expire on December 20, 2021.

However, due to concerns about temporary disruptions in operations caused by the reassignment and adjustment of duties for hundreds of workers being directly hired, the service contract between Kumho Tire and the partner companies was extended by about one month.

Mr. A and the others argued that after December 21, 2021, an implicit direct employment relationship with Kumho Tire was established, and they filed the lawsuit on this basis.

Kumho Tire countered that even during the one-month extension of the service contract, Mr. A and the others continued to provide work for the partner companies, not Kumho Tire itself.

The court ruled in favor of Kumho Tire, stating, "It cannot be considered that the plaintiffs were under the direct supervision and control of the defendant."

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