The family of the late MBC weathercaster Oh Yoanna, who passed away last September, has officially initiated a lawsuit for damages against her former colleague, weathercaster A.
On the 22nd, the Seoul Central District Court's 48th Civil Agreement Division (Chief Judge Kim Do-kyun) held the first hearing for the lawsuit filed by Oh's family against A, seeking damages of 510 million won. The lawsuit was filed last December, and initially, the court planned to issue a verdict without a hearing on March 27th. However, after A appointed a lawyer two days before the scheduled verdict, the no-contest ruling was revoked, and the first formal hearing took place today.
During the hearing, A's defense argued, "The plaintiff is ignoring the overall context and selectively using parts of conversations to support their bullying claims. The defendant has never bullied anyone at work, and there is no causal link to Oh's death."
They further claimed, "The incidents in question occurred around 2022, and the two maintained a good relationship afterward. The stress Oh experienced was also due to external factors, such as malicious online comments."
Previously, about eight months after Oh's death, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the results of a special labor inspection, acknowledging that there were circumstances that could be considered bullying. However, they stated that "weathercasters, due to their work nature, are difficult to classify as employees," hence workplace bullying regulations could not be applied.
On the same day, MBC issued an official apology and terminated its contract with A. However, it was reported that contracts were renewed with the other three individuals implicated.
Following the hearing, Oh's mother told the press, "In addition to this civil lawsuit, we are preparing to file criminal charges against A and plan to request a reconsideration of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's findings."
Oh Yoanna joined MBC as a weathercaster in 2021 and passed away at the age of 28 last September.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)