NewJeans’ manager, who filed a complaint against ADOR “They tricked me with CCTV lies and threatened to call my parents”
In an interview with Ilgan Sports on the evening of Dec 10th, A said, “After returning from NewJeans‘ schedule in Japan on Dec 3rd, I was called into the office to discuss a journalist’s inquiry. During the discussion, they suddenly began interrogating me, asking if I had contacted advertisers.”
Earlier that day, A filed a complaint against ADOR and CEO Kim Joo-young with the Ministry of Employment and Labor for workplace bullying. In the complaint, A claimed that ADOR lured them under the guise of a work discussion, then presented a suspension notice, demanded the immediate return of their laptop and illegally detained them for three hours despite their request to leave after complying.
A further alleged that ADOR demanded their personal phone without legal grounds, even though all work-related materials had been backed up online (the company’s drive) and their laptop contained only personal data, which they had already formatted. However, ADOR used the formatting as grounds for disciplinary action and initiated an investigation.
Regarding this, ADOR stated, “An employee in charge of management directly contacted advertisers, bypassing the company, and urged the artist to sign contracts directly with the brands. The manager in question has admitted to engaging in such communication. This constitutes serious harmful conduct that facilitates the violation of the artist’s exclusive contract.”
ADOR further noted that the manager was given opportunities to clarify their actions but refused all interviews. The company denied allegations of illegal confinement or coercive behavior, adding that the manager submitted the company-owned laptop after formatting it to make data recovery impossible. ADOR announced plans to investigate the truth and take necessary legal action.
A disputed ADOR’s claims, stating, “NewJeans members expressed their desire to terminate their exclusive contracts and asked me to convey their wishes to advertisers since they couldn’t contact them directly. I made it clear I was relaying their intentions and committed no misconduct. ADOR is falsely accusing me of wrongdoing to discredit me.”
Describing the incident further, A said, “After CEO Kim Joo-young’s interrogation, HYBE’s HR team came in with the suspension notice and demanded my laptop. I explained I didn’t have it at the time and promised to return it the next day. But they lied, claiming CCTV showed me entering with a laptop bag, then threatened to call my parents to check if the laptop was at home. They even suggested accompanying me to retrieve it.“
A continued, “The laptop contained my personal information, so I backed up all company data and formatted it before submission, which I confirmed with ADOR. Despite this, I was detained for three hours. When I finally left, exhausted, CEO Kim Joo-young demanded my phone. I refused, asking why I should hand over my personal device.”
A revealed they considered resigning but were met with resistance, “They told me I would need to remain for 30 days even if I expressed my intent to resign, and that I must undergo investigation for alleged misconduct.“
A also expressed frustration after learning that HYBE confiscated laptops from other managers, “I heard about my juniors’ laptops being seized and how devastated they were. That’s when I decided I couldn’t tolerate this anymore and filed a workplace bullying complaint.”
A concluded, “Even amidst conflicts between the company and members, managers don’t stop working. I focused on the schedules and motivated other managers and staff to stay professional. I even directed external parties to work through ADOR for payments. It’s infuriating to be accused of misconduct when I acted in good faith.“
Source: Naver
