Announcer Lee Eun-joo, who had won a lawsuit against KBS, abruptly posted a cryptic emotional message that drew attention.
On the 11th, Lee Eun-joo calmly posted on her social account a photo of a sunset sky and wrote, "It's too precious for me to spend my time caring about things not worth engaging with :)".
She then uploaded a teddy bear-shaped mood light and said positively, "Coincidentally, cute Teddy arrived today," and "I have many many more good people."
Announcer Lee Eun-joo had worked in a freelance employment arrangement at KBS Gangneung Broadcasting Station and KBS Chuncheon Broadcasting General Office since 2015. She joined as a freelance weather caster but took on announcer duties from the following year, and after the 2019 new announcer hiring she was excluded from duties, receiving notice to be removed from all programs except the 1FM corner.
In response, Lee Eun-joo filed a suit seeking recognition of employee status against KBS, and she won on appeal. The court found it reasonable to view that Lee Eun-joo performed the same duties as regular announcers and was effectively exclusive to KBS. It also concluded that since she had worked for more than two years from 2015, she should have been converted to an indefinite-term contract, and that KBS's exclusion of her duties amounted to unfair dismissal.
The ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court, and Lee Eun-joo was reinstated to KBS in January 2024 and assigned to KBS Wonju Broadcasting Station. Meanwhile, Lee Eun-joo filed a suit seeking payment of wages she would have received had she worked normally during about five years of dismissal, arguing that wages should be calculated on the basis of regular staff (level 4) rather than contract staff (level 7) because she had effectively performed the same duties as regular announcers. KBS countered that Lee Eun-joo was appointed after a relatively simplified screening process compared with regular announcers and did not perform administrative tasks carried out by regular announcers during their tenure, and thus the level 7 pay standard should apply.
Ultimately, the court ruled that treating announcer Lee Eun-joo as level 7 was discrimination without reasonable grounds, and in March the court partially ruled for the plaintiff, finding that KBS is obliged to pay approximately 289.4 million won in unpaid wages to Lee Eun-joo. KBS told OSEN, "We respect the court's decision and will review the judgment to determine internal policy." Given that this was a post by someone who went through years of legal disputes, it is being viewed as more meaningful.
Meanwhile, Lee Eun-joo married Shinwa's Andy in 2022.
[Photo] Lee Eun-joo SNS
[OSEN]