JIPYONG LLC

The defendant is a company operating the insurance business, and the plaintiff is a person who worked as the branch general manager of a branch of the defendant. The plaintiff was dismissed for (i) extramarital affair with an insurance planner at the branch (the “Insurance Planner”), (ii) slanderous comments against insurance planners at the branch, and (iii) sales activities in the name of the defendant’s sister. The plaintiff thereafter denied all of the above grounds for termination and filed a lawsuit seeking declaration of invalidation of termination. In particular, the plaintiff argued in the course of the litigation that even if the plaintiff had referred to sexual intercourse or gossiped about the other insurance planners on the phone with the Insurance Planner, it would have been a private phone call in the area of private life and cannot be used as grounds for disciplinary action.

Jipyong represented the defendant and presented objective evidence for the above grounds of disciplinary action. Also, Jipyong emphasized that the results from the improper acts by the plaintiff were not limited to the area of private life considering that (i) the plaintiff was the branch general manager in the position of overseeing and supervising the insurance planners at the branch, yet maintained an inappropriate relationship with the Insurance Planner, (ii) repeatedly spoke in a slanderous manner or verbally harassed the other insurance planners at the branch, and (iii) the end of the inappropriate relationship with the Insurance Planner, as well as the response from the other insurance planners, were made known to all the employees, making the business operation practically impossible.

The court therefore accepted all the arguments from the defendant and held that the termination of the plaintiff was justified.