Ador CEO Min Hee-jin speaks at a press conference in Seocho district, Seoul, April 25. Yonhap
A Seoul court on Thursday granted an injunction filed by CEO Min Hee-jin of Ador, an affiliate of K-pop powerhouse HYBE, which is behind the girl group NewJeans, to stop HYBE from dismissing her as the sublabel’s head.
The decision by the Seoul Central District Court came a day ahead of an Ador shareholders’ meeting, where HYBE was expected to replace Min Hee-jin as CEO over a suspected breach of trust.
HYBE, which holds 80 percent of Ador shares, launched a surprise audit into Min and subsequently filed a breach of trust complaint against her late last month, accusing her of plotting to usurp control of Ador and take NewJeans with her.
Min has flatly denied the allegations and sought a court injunction to prevent HYBE from exercising its voting rights to dismiss her as Ador CEO during the upcoming shareholders’ session.
The Seoul Central District Court determined that HYBE’s reasoning for dismissing Min has not been sufficiently explained, as it granted the injunction.
The court ruled that Min’s dismissal, if approved in the upcoming shareholders’ meeting, couldn’t be reversed even through a main lawsuit and any resulting damage stemming from the loss of her position couldn’t be offset by any financial compensation afterward.
The court further acknowledged that Min had “clearly” sought independent control of Ador but had hardly progressed to the actual implementation stage, saying it amounted to “betrayal” but not “breach of trust.”
The court also ordered HYBE to pay compensation of 20 billion won ($14.5 million) if it exercises its voting right to dismiss Min. (Yonhap)