According to Korean media, at the end of November last year, NewJeans' manager A directly contacted advertisers after NewJeans announced a unilateral termination of the contract, without ADOR's participation.
ADOR believes that the contract is still valid. ADOR affirmed that the actions of manager A were a serious violation. In response, manager A accused ADOR's person of harassing at work and filed a complaint against CEO Kim Joo Young to the Ministry of Labor and Employment in December 2024.
A accused ADOR's company of luring him to "discussion about work" but then detained him illegally for about three hours, demanding that he hand over his personal phone.
Previously, NewJeans members also expressed their frustration, saying that they had seen managers and performance directors have their laptops confiscated by ADOR and HYBE (ADOR's management company) and checked unexpectedly, causing great pressure to the point that some people burst into tears.
Meanwhile, ADOR claimed that management A had arbitrarily contacted the advertiser and tried to promote a direct contract between the artist and the brand, violating the group's exclusive contract.
ADOR also said that they had asked the employee to return the company's laptop and asked to meet to clarify the issue, but he repeatedly refused. The company insists there has been no detention or enforcement.
According to Korean media, the Seoul Regional Labor Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Employment of South Korea has concluded that the incident had no basis for the above complaint and closed the administrative file. Investigation results show that the documents provided by the plaintiff are not enough to prove the act of harassment at work.
With three previous complaints from NewJeans to the Ministry of Labor and Employment leading to no allegations, NewJeans and ADOR are currently facing a full-scale legal battle. On March 7, a preliminary hearing on the ban will be held regarding the company's status and ADOR's signing of advertising contracts with five NewJeans members. The first day of trial for the lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract is scheduled for January 3.
