ADOR, the agency of the group NewJeans, filed a damages suit worth about 43 billion won against member Danielle, whose exclusive contract it terminated, her family, and former chief executive Min Hee-jin. The case was assigned to the panel handling the stock dispute lawsuits between former chief Min and HYBE.
According to legal sources on the 30th, the Seoul Central District Court assigned ADOR's damages suit against Danielle's side and former chief Min to Civil Agreement Division 31 (Presiding Judge Nam In-soo). The defendants include Danielle, one family member, and former chief Min, and the total claim amount is about 43.09 billion won.
The Civil Agreement Division 31 in charge of the case is concurrently hearing HYBE's lawsuit seeking confirmation of termination of the shareholders' agreement against former chief Min and former chief Min's suit against HYBE for stock sale proceeds.
The lawsuits arose after former chief Min notified HYBE in November last year of exercising a put option, and HYBE countered that the shareholders' agreement was terminated due to former chief Min's attempt to "poach NewJeans," extinguishing the put option right.
ADOR proceeded with terminating Danielle's exclusive contract the previous day while pursuing this damages suit in parallel. The agency says it will hold Danielle's side and former chief Min legally responsible for creating the dispute, the member's departure, and the delay in the member's return.
In November last year, NewJeans members had demanded former chief Min's return and advocated for terminating their exclusive contracts. ADOR, however, maintained that the contracts remained valid and in December of the same year filed a suit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contracts along with an injunction to block the members from solo activities. The court granted the injunction and later also ruled in ADOR's favor at the trial court.