Attract, the agency of the group Fifty Fifty, won partial victory in a damages lawsuit related to alleged "tampering" involving The Givers' CEO Ahn Seong-il and others.
On the 15th, the Civil Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court (Director General Judge Choi Jong-jin) ruled in part for plaintiff Jeon Hong-jun, Attract's CEO, in his damages claim against The Givers' CEO Ahn Seong-il and executive Baek.
The court ruled, "The Givers and Ahn Seong-il shall jointly pay the plaintiff 499.5 million won, and executive Baek shall, jointly with The Givers and Ahn, pay 449.5 million won of the total compensation amount."
It added, "The plaintiff will bear 80% of the litigation costs and the remaining costs will be borne by the defendants respectively," and, "Paragraph 1 (compensation amount) may be provisionally executed."
Fifty Fifty earlier filed for a provisional injunction to suspend the exclusive contract with Attract in June 2023. The group said trust was broken due to Attract's opaque settlements and failure to fulfill member health management duties. However, the court dismissed the request, and they filed an appeal.
However, member Kina did not join the other three members and alone submitted a withdrawal of the appeal and returned to Attract. In particular, after returning, Kina claimed that The Givers' producer Ahn Seong-il, affiliated with Fifty Fifty's related company, was behind the controversy. The provisional injunction was also dismissed in the second trial.
Attract filed a damages lawsuit seeking about 13 billion won against former Fifty Fifty members Saena, Sio and Aran and the joint tortfeasors who were involved in the unjust termination of exclusive contracts.
At the time, Attract said, "We filed civil lawsuits seeking damages and liquidated damages for breach of exclusive contracts against the three members Saena, Sio and Aran, and damages for joint torts against The Givers' Ahn Seong-il and executive Baek, who actively participated in the unjust termination of the exclusive contracts, as well as the parents of the three members."
During the trial, Attract alleged in court, "There are signs of embezzlement exceeding 150 million won in connection with entering into a service contract that was not agreed in advance. Illegal acts such as refusing advertising bookings and deleting mail accounts were committed."
The Givers responded, "They say we unilaterally terminated the service contract, but it was a mutually agreed termination," and rebutted, "The Givers were hardly involved in the dispute between Attract and Fifty Fifty members."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]