Jinowi ruled all three fired 'unfair dismissal'... The association said, "There was no retaliatory disciplinary action."

*This content was translated by AI.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Labor Relations Commission (Gino Committee) issued a mixed judgment result over the controversy over the "retaliation disciplinary action" of the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA). While acknowledging unfair dismissal of the three employees who were dismissed, the Ginowi decided to dismiss the union's claim of "unfair labor practices (retaliation disciplinary action)."

The KPGA Labor Union said in a press release on the 5th that the Gyeonggi Gino Committee judged all three fired workers to be unfairly dismissed in a final interrogation meeting on January 2nd, judging that there was no justification for the association's dismissal. The union said about the decision, "The dismissal measures taken against employees who stated the damage of bullying in the workplace were judged to be directly unfair by the authorities."

According to the union, the issue was triggered by bullying at work by A, a high-ranking former athlete. Mr. A was sentenced to eight months in prison in the first trial on December 16, 2025 for not only swearing, verbal abuse, personal threats, and personal attacks against the victim, but also forcing a memorandum and urging him to leave the union.

The union criticized, "While the association delayed punishment for bullying perpetrators in the workplace for about eight months after the initial report, the victims were fired just 48 hours after the disciplinary committee was held." In particular, he pointed out that the association delayed immediate action against the perpetrator even after the full investigation in January 2025, but in July of the same year, based on a letter of apology that A received under coercion, disciplined more than 10 victims and fired three.

The union also urged immediate reinstatement, saying, "The association spent tens of millions of won on defense of dismissal by putting four lawyers from the law firm 'Yulchon' instead of protecting affected employees or improving the system, but in the end, it came to the conclusion of unfair dismissal."

On the same day, the KPGA Secretariat emphasized in a press release that the Ginowi had decided to dismiss the "unfair labor practices" applied by the union altogether. The association said, "The decision proved that the association's disciplinary action was not a retaliatory measure with a specific intention, but a legitimate exercise of personnel rights executed in accordance with the bylaws for the apparent work negligence of employees. The stimulating frame of "retaliable personnel" under pressure from executive A, which the union has claimed, turned out to be fiction."

In fact, the Korean Labor Relations Commission dismissed the union's request for relief, judging that the association's disposition was reasonable for five of those subject to disciplinary action. The contents of their work negligence revealed by the association include ▲ Discipline B: Missing reports and negligence of supervision, negligence of management of recommended players ▲ Discipline C: Damage to players due to negligence of management work ▲ Discipline D: Failure to comply with instructions and omission of reporting ▲ Discipline E: Negligence of on-site response work ▲ Discipline F: Failure to comply with instructions for a long period of time.

Regarding the three cases of unfair dismissal, the association reaffirmed that their disciplinary reasons were severe, saying, "We respect the judgment of the committee and will respond after reviewing the ruling closely in the future." The association suggested ▲ Layoffs G: Missing sponsor advertisements caused competition cancellation and damaged credibility ▲ Layoffs H: Missing/hiding accident content intentionally and deceiving players to disrupt the tour's career ▲ Layoffs I: Negligence of rent management and delay in tax reporting caused financial losses to the association's finances.

The KPGA secretariat emphasized, "This ruling is the beginning of proving that the union's unilateral claim is not true," adding, "We will continue to create a transparent association with the right regulations without compromising on the act of ignoring laws and principles."

The detailed ruling by the Gyeonggi Gino Committee will be sent in early February, about a month later. Failure to comply with the relief order under the Labor Standards Act may result in a maximum enforcement penalty of 120 million won per laid-off person.

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*This content was translated by AI.