'Late Senior Oh Yo-anna' Choi A-ri, Return to MBC? Seoul Labor Relations Commission Rules "Unfair Dismissal" [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Choi A-ri, formerly an MBC weather presenter, has been recognized as an employee under the Labor Standards Act and ruled to have been unfairly dismissed.

According to a report by The Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 27th, the Seoul Local Labor Relations Commission (hereinafter 'Seoul LRC') accepted Choi A-ri's application for relief from unfair dismissal filed against MBC on the 24th. The Seoul LRC determined that Choi A-ri qualifies as an employee under the Labor Standards Act and that the termination of her contract by MBC constitutes unfair dismissal.

In response, MBC stated, "The Seoul LRC's ruling is directly opposite to the results of the special labor inspection conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, causing confusion in labor management. We will decide on future measures after receiving the official ruling document detailing the specific reasons for the decision."

Choi A-ri passed the public recruitment for MBC weather presenters in August 2018 and repeatedly renewed one-year freelance service contracts. Although the final contract specified an end date of December 31 last year, she continued working under the same arrangement until February this year without a new contract.

Following the incident involving the late Oh Yo-anna, MBC abolished its weather presenter system in September last year. Lee Hyun-seung, Kim Ga-young, Choi A-ri, and Geum Chae-rim, who had all worked as weather presenters, left MBC in February this year.

Meanwhile, during a special labor inspection conducted by the Seoul Local Employment Labor Office last year, it was determined that the late Oh Yo-anna did not qualify as an employee under the Labor Standards Act, so regulations on workplace harassment were not applied.

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*This content was translated by AI.