The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has made a ruling regarding workplace bullying claims made by a former NJZ (NewJeans) manager, identified as Mr. A, against ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young. The MOEL found these allegations to be unfounded, making it the third case involving ADOR that has been dismissed without charges. This reinforces ADOR's position that no coercive actions took place.

Mr. A was responsible for managing advertising deals for NewJeans independently following the termination of a contract between NewJeans and ADOR in late November last year. ADOR viewed this as a breach of business conduct and conducted an internal audit. Mr. A considered the audit as workplace bullying and lodged a formal complaint against CEO Kim with the MOEL in December.

After investigating the complaint, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office, under the MOEL, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the workplace bullying allegations, resulting in the case being closed without charges.

Despite Mr. A's previous claims in media interviews about being unlawfully detained by ADOR and accused of workplace bullying, the company defended its actions. According to ADOR, Mr. A's direct communication with advertisers without involving the company breached the artists' exclusive contract. Subsequently, ADOR suspended Mr. A and requested the return of the company-issued laptop.

Previous workplace bullying allegations involving ADOR have also been dismissed without charges. This included a case where a former ADOR Vice President, L, accused HYBE executives of workplace bullying. However, after an investigation, authorities ruled in favor of HYBE.

Additionally, a petition was filed regarding workplace bullying involving a member named Hanni from NewJeans, but the authorities determined that Hanni did not qualify as an employee under labor laws. These consistent rulings suggest that there was no evidence of wrongdoing or coercive behavior in any of the cases.