"To prevent a second Oh Yo-anna from appearing." Weathercaster the late Oh Yo-anna wore an MBC employee ID around her neck one year after her death. Although it is an "honorary employee ID," it carries meaningful value in that an agreement was reached between the bereaved family and MBC.
MBC held a joint press conference with the late Oh Yo-anna's family on the 15th at its headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. At the event, An Hyeong-jun, president of MBC, attended and honored MBC weathercaster Oh Yo-anna, who died last year.
In particular, President An officially apologized for the workplace harassment issues raised by the bereaved family and presented the late person with an honorary employee ID. He also signed the agreement with the bereaved family and hugged the deceased's mother.
He said, "I pray for the repose of Oh Yo-anna, who passed away at a young age. I offer my sincere condolences and apologies to the deceased's mother and family, who have endured a long time amid immeasurable sorrow," and emphasized, "Today's agreement is MBC's pledge that such a tragic incident must never happen again."
He added, "In April, we established the office of the cooperation and coexistence officer to serve as a channel to handle grievances and conflicts of those working at MBC, including freelancers, and we regularly conduct training to prevent misconduct such as workplace harassment and unfair treatment," and said, "As a responsible public broadcaster, MBC will continuously strive to build an organizational culture of mutual respect and consideration and to create a better workplace," once again praying for the deceased's repose.
Oh Yo-anna died on Sept. 15 last year. She was 28. She had appeared on the tvN entertainment program You Quiz on the Block and was attracting attention as a beautiful weathercaster. The sudden death of a young person drew sadness.
The belatedly revealed obituary added to the sorrow. The death notice became widely known only in Dec., three months after her death. Among this, a 17-page suicide note was found on the deceased's cellphone, sparking suspicions of "workplace harassment."
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said in May, after conducting a special labor inspection of MBC, that "there was bullying within the organization." It also emphasized that, given the nature of weathercasters who are in contract positions, they are not recognized as workers under the Labor Standards Act to which the "workplace harassment regulations" apply. Ultimately, while there was "harassment," it was regrettable that it could not be considered "within the workplace."
MBC, which had delayed an apology in silence, belatedly expressed regret after the Ministry of Employment and Labor's determination. It emphasized, in particular, "we will do our best to improve organizational culture." To that end, it said, "Based on the 'overall organizational culture improvement plan' submitted to the labor ministry, we are already implementing improvement measures," and stressed, "We will repeatedly check and supplement any shortcomings in light of today's announcement."
It also said, "We will make greater efforts so that colleagues working at MBC, including freelancers, nonregular workers and outsourced staff, are not discriminated against." It added, "We will further supplement and strengthen systems that can quickly address issues that may arise among freelancers and nonregular workers." Furthermore, it said, "Regardless of employment type, when colleagues recognize such issues, we will improve the system so they can report them with guaranteed anonymity."
The fact that regular and contract employees belong to the same "organization" despite different forms of employment does not change. MBC is currently highlighting the grievances of nonrecruited employees in the Fri.-Sat. drama To the Moon. The work cheerfully depicts the hardships of nonrecruited employees who seem to have to dream of a once-in-a-lifetime break, like coin prices soaring to the moon, to shine. Although the workplace harassment revealed after Oh Yo-anna's death was not between regular and nonregular employees but rather harassment among weathercasters, it is highly ironic when reflecting on MBC's current situation.
Although an agreement with the broadcaster was reached, the bereaved family's lawsuit is still underway. They filed a suit seeking 510 million won in damages against weathercaster A, who was identified as the perpetrator and a colleague of the deceased. On the 14th, a day before the press conference, a hearing was held at the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 48 (Presiding Judge Kim Do-gyun). If the agreement between MBC and the bereaved family addressed the issue of employment form, what remains now is a dispute over who the perpetrator of the harassment was. The bereaved family's fight is not over until a second Oh Yo-anna does not appear.
[Photo] OSEN DB, SNS sources.
[OSEN]