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On November 4, 2024, Chosun Biz reported that the court seemingly barred the legal route for Min Hee-jin to return to her position as CEO of ADOR. As per the Commercial Act, the 50th Civil Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court had previously rejected her injunction to get reinstated as the label's chief executive officer (CEO) due to a lack of justified statements.
In terms of law, the appointment of a company/label's CEO is separate (and not interconnected) from that of a shareholders' agreement. Min Hee-jin's injunction accused HYBE of a contract breach of the shareholders' agreement when they removed her from ADOR's CEO position on August 27, 2024. However, the court determined that HYBE did not violate the shareholders' clause.
As per Chosun Biz's report, legal experts suggest that the verdict on the injunction further prevents former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin from returning to the position, without the board director's support. She cannot file another injunction or lawsuit to get reappointed as the CEO due to the distinctive law, thus experts believe it has "effectively blocked Min Hee-jin's legal path to reinstatement.".
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The court also highlighted that the ADOR board of directors is an independent body and isn't obliged to follow HYBE's instructions. Hence, the ADOR board of directors decided to remove Min Hee-jin on its own accord.
Min Hee-jin demanded to become ADOR CEO even after her injunction was rejected by the court
The 50th Civil Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court stated that HYBE cannot legally fire board directors who disobey directives during the shareholders' meeting.
The court acknowledged that the ADOR's board of directors decided to re-appoint Min Hee-jin as the insider director but rejected reinstating her as the CEO based on their sound judgments.
Chosun Biz reported that on July 8, 2024, HYBE informed the court that the ex-ADOR CEO violated the company's trust and breached privacy in April 2024 by attempting to take over ADOR and NewJeans. They stated:
"The creditor (former CEO Min) has seriously violated the shareholder agreement, destroying the trust relationship that is the basis of the shareholder agreement, and as a result, the purpose of the shareholder agreement cannot be achieved, so it is being terminated."
On October 29, 2024, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the injunction filed by the former ADOR CEO. However, on October 30, she demanded to be reappointed as the CEO once again, which was rejected by the ADOR board of directors.
For the unversed, the conflict between HYBE and Min Hee-jin began in April 2024, when an internal audit exposed her of allegedly conspiring a coup to take over ADOR from its parent company (HYBE). She reportedly met with Dunamu executives to allegedly discuss how to crash HYBE's shares in the market and also met with a foreign investor. HYBE filed a civil and criminal lawsuit against her.
The company asked her to step down from her position as ADOR's CEO, however, she filed an injunction to stop HYBE from using its majority shareholder right to fire her in the emergency shareholders' meeting (May 30).
The court ruled in favor of her and prohibited HYBE from using its rights during the meeting. However, the company replaced the ADOR board members with new executives on May 30.
Later, the ADOR board decided to remove Hee-jin on August 27, 2024, and appointed Kim Joo-young as the new label CEO. On September 12, Min Hee-jin filed another injunction to get reappointed as the CEO and internal director, which was turned down.
Meanwhile, previously NewJeans' Hanni accused HYBE and ADOR of alleged harsh treatment during a YouTube broadcast on September 11, 2024.
Hanni even gave testimony on alleged workplace bullying before the National Assembly Audit on October 15, mentioning the instance in which a manager reportedly told another idol group to ignore her in the hallways.
