Min Hee Jin’s Legal Battle: Police Close Case Against Labor Officials
Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, now at OOAK Records, has been a central figure in a legal saga that recently saw police conclude their investigation into her criminal complaints against labor officials. The dramatic turn of events began after Min Hee Jin was fined in a workplace harassment case, prompting her to file charges alleging falsification of documents and dereliction of duty against the very officials who investigated her. Police have now officially closed the case, finding no criminal wrongdoing.
According to a July 9 report by JoongAng Ilbo, the Mapo Police Station decided on February 6 not to refer officials from the Seoul Western Branch of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office for prosecution. Min Hee Jin had filed her complaint last year, alleging that these officials incorrectly recorded timestamps and included false information in investigation documents related to her workplace harassment case.
The Original Workplace Harassment Allegations
The original workplace harassment controversy ignited in August 2024. A former ADOR employee, known only as ‘A,’ lodged a complaint with labor authorities, claiming to have endured verbal abuse from Min Hee Jin. Employee ‘A’ further alleged that another executive, identified as ‘B’ and reportedly a close associate of Min, also engaged in workplace harassment. Critically, after ‘A’ internally reported ‘B’s conduct, Min Hee Jin allegedly defended the executive and attempted to cover up the incident.
Last March, the Seoul Western Branch of the labor office concluded its investigation, determining that some of Min Hee Jin’s remarks could indeed have caused physical or psychological distress and worsened the working environment, thus constituting workplace harassment. The authorities also found that Min, as an employer, failed to conduct an objective investigation into the allegations and consequently imposed an administrative fine.
Min Hee Jin’s Disputed Claims and Police Findings
Min Hee Jin vehemently disputed these findings. Her primary contention revolved around how officials documented time intervals in a KakaoTalk group chat involving the complainants. She claimed, “They recorded the messages as though they had been made consecutively, creating an official document containing false facts.” Min also argued that investigators did not allow her to respond to each specific statement during the probe. The officials, however, reportedly told police that any errors were unintentional mistakes, not deliberate falsifications.
Separately from the criminal complaint, Min Hee Jin also pursued an administrative lawsuit challenging the fine. The Seoul Western District Court partially upheld the penalty while simultaneously overturning parts of the labor office’s original decision.
After a thorough review of Min Hee Jin’s criminal complaint against the labor officials, police concluded that while some information had been recorded incorrectly, these mistakes did not constitute criminal conduct. Investigators determined that the documents did not contain fabricated statements or claims that Min had never made. Instead, they found that the officials had made “contextual recording errors,” including incorrect timestamps. Regarding Min’s claim of being denied an opportunity to present her defense, police found that investigators had, in fact, reviewed written submissions from her legal representatives and and had sufficiently categorized and assessed the allegations against her before reaching their conclusion.
Attorneys representing Min Hee Jin informed the newspaper that they were “not in a position to provide a separate statement” regarding the matter.
