( Source )

This post, about Lee Eun-eui’s successful suit against Samsung Electronics for sexual harassment by her boss and then being punished for reporting it, follows directly from Part 1 and Part 2. If you haven’t already, please read those before continuing:

소송과정에서 가장 힘들었던 점은?

What has been the most difficult thing in the whole legal process for you?

회사에서는 내가 거짓말 한다고 했다. 인권위에서나 법원에서 회사의 주 변론이 ‘원하는 부서에 배치 받으려고 있지도 않은 성희롱을 했다고 주장한다’라는 거였다. 그럴 때마다 수치스러웠다. 주로 남자들이 있는 자리에서 내가 당했던 일을 말하는 게 쉬운 일도 아니었고.

처음 성희롱이 몸의 수치였다면, 사내에서 가해진 왕따는 영혼의 수치였고, 그 이후 회사의 반응들은 영혼과 몸을 다 부정당한 기분이었다. 내가 나의 성을 팔아야 할 만큼 부서배치나 승진이 대단한가? 매번 그런 사실을 법원에서 인권위에서 해명할 때마다 느꼈던 좌절감이 오늘의 나를 만들어 준 것 같다. 분노로 담금질 됐다. 회사는 나를 괴물같이 보겠지. 퇴사하지도 않고 심지어 (소송에서) 이기기까지 했으니. 그렇지만 나는 이런 ‘괴물’을 만든 건 회사라고 본다. 나는 원래 그런 존재가 아니었는데, 나를 자꾸 흔들어서 내가 살기 위해 움직이다 보니까 이 자리까지 온 거다.

잠시 숨을 고르던 이씨는 신입사원 시절, 연수원에서 배웠던 ‘도덕성ㆍ에티켓ㆍ인간미’를 이야기 했다. 그는 “유치하고 뻔 한 말이지만, 그 세 가지가 지켜졌다면 없었을 일이 황유미ㆍ박지연(삼성전자에서 일하던 중 백혈병으로 사망)씨였고 나였다”라고 말했다.

Samsung Electronics saying that I was lying. Their response to the Human Rights Commission and the Court was that I was simply accusing my boss of sexual harassment in order to get the position I wanted within the department. I felt really ashamed and humiliated whenever I heard that. And it was especially difficult to talk about it when there were men around (source, right).

At first, the sexual harassment made me feel ashamed and humiliated bodily, but then when I was ostracized within the company my spirit felt that way too, and because of the company’s reaction I felt such a sense of injustice and frustration both mentally and physically. Was being promoted within the company so important that I had to sell myself sexually? Whenever I had to explain the fact of what happened to the Human Rights Commission or in the Court, I felt such a sense of frustration and discouragement, and that’s made me what I’m like today. But my anger was sated, and the company will look at me as a monster from now on. However, I wasn’t originally like that, it’s what the company made me; because they kept pressing so hard, I had to hold my ground just to survive and get on with my life.

Reporter Jang Il-ho: Catching her breath, Lee talks about back when she was a new employee, and how at the training center she learned about ethics, etiquette, and humanity through stories. “They were childish, and I always knew what the endings were going to be, but if the company itself had just borne them in mind then cases like Hwang Yu-mi’s, Park Ji-yeon’s (who both allegedly died of Leukemia from working at Samsung Electronics assembly lines), and mine would never have happened” she said.

회사를 그만 두지 않은 이유는?

What is the reason you haven’t quit working for Samsung Electronics?

(그만둘까)많이 생각했다. 편하게 갈 수 있는 길도 있었고 후회와 고민도 있었다. 그렇지만 나는 회사가 이건희 회장이나 사장의 것이라고 생각하지 않는다. 직원과 주주 것이라고 생각한다. 내가 들어오고 싶었던 회사, 자랑스럽게 생각했던 회사, 꿈에 그리던 회사…열심히 다녔고… 결국 내 꿈에 대해 실망했었다.

그렇지만 이 회사는 나의 빛나던 20대와 뜨거웠던 30대가 녹아 있는 곳이다. 불이익을 당했을 때, 회사를 바르게 사랑하는 방식은 바로잡기 위한 노력을 하는 거라고 생각했고, 그걸 실천에 옮겼을 뿐이다. 사실 나는 황유미씨나 박지연씨만큼 중요한 사람은 아니다. 그런 의미에서 부채감도 있다. 그들은 생명권의 문제, 타협이 불가능한 문제다. 그러나 애초에 나는 타협도 조율도 가능했다. 그런데 그걸 해주는 사람이 회사 내에 아무도 없었기 때문에 싸워야 했다.

Quitting…I thought about it a lot. It would have been very easy, and in some ways I regret not doing so. But then I don’t think this company belongs to its chairman Lee Kun-hee, or the bosses of its many subsidiaries, but rather to its employees and stockholders. It’s a company I also wanted to work in, I was proud to work in, it was my dream to work in…I worked hard here…although in the end, my dream was crushed (source, left).

However, my shining (with potential) 20s and energetic, passionate 30s just melted into this company. I thought that whenever something was wrong, the way to show your love to the company was to do what was right to fix it, and indeed in reality that’s all I did. I’m not as important as Hwang Yu-mi or Park Ji-yeon, who had problems with their very lives, which were impossible to negotiate with. With me though, it was possible to do something about my problem from the outset, although because no-one within the company would help me I had no choice but to fight.

삼성은 노조가 없어도 노사협의회로 노동자의 권리를 보호해준다고 하는데, 도움이 됐나.

Samsung doesn’t have a union, but it does have a labor-management arbitration committee to help protect workers’ rights. Did they help?

단적으로 노조가 있었다면 소송할 때 변호사비도 들지 않았을 거고, 회사 내에서도 중재가 가능했을 것이다. 노사협의회에 도움을 요청했더니, 회사와 개인의 문제에 끼어들 수 없다고 하더라. 이 문제에서 노사 협의회는 전혀 도움이 안 됐다. 오죽하면 노사협의회에 근로자위원으로 입후보하려고 했는데, 우연의 일치인지 입후보 기간에 맞춰 출장을 보냈다. 이번 민사 판결이 의미 있는 이유 중 하나는 노조가 없는 회사에서 그동안 ‘회사와 싸우면 깨진다’라는 본보기를 깨트린 점이다.

Putting it simply, if there had been a union then they would have provided money for a lawyer and/or mediated with the company for me. In contrast, the labor-management arbitration committee told me that if was a personal issue between myself and the company and so they couldn’t get involved: they weren’t any help whatsoever. Indeed, I applied for a position on that committee, but by a [supposed] coincidence I was sent away on a business trip and was unable to. The judgment of the lawsuit means [though], that unlike what everyone thinks, you can win if you fight against a company which has no union.

(James – I’m a little confused by her application: she was immediately moved from her department after reporting being sexual harassed by her boss, she was then completely ostracized at work – indeed, later put on extended leave for 7 months – , but somehow still expected to get on to a committee that had already refused to help her? My wife suggests she may have been so desperate though, that she literally tried anything)

가족들의 반응은 어떤가.

What was the reaction of your family?

물정 모르고 자란 막내딸이 이런 소송에 휘말릴 것이라고 생각지도 않으셨다. 아직도 어머니가 매일 아침 머리를 말려 출근 시켜주신다. 그런 어머니에게 차마 말을 할 수 없었다. 알고 나서 무척 싫어하셨지. 그렇지만 나중에는 제대로 싸우라고 응원해줬다. 이왕 얼굴 내놓고 싸울 거면 예쁜 모습으로 싸워야 한다고, 옷 같은 것도 참견하시고(웃음). 종내 항상 힘을 보태주고 지지해주는 건 가족인 것 같다.

4시간 가까이 쉼 없이 말을 쏟아놓던 이은의씨에게 카메라를 들이댔다. 이씨는 “이왕이면 예쁘게 찍어 달라”라고 요구했다. 그는 “여자로서의 욕망이 아니라 ‘파이터’로서의 옵션이다”라고 덧붙였다. 불쌍하게 보이고 싶지 않다고 했다. 질 수 없었던 싸움, 희망의 언표가 되고 싶다는 이유였다. ‘언니를 지지할 수는 있지만, 언니처럼 될 수 없어서…’라며 성희롱 피해를 당하고도 싸우지 못하는 많은 여직원들을 보며 그는 ‘파이터’의 감수성을 키워왔다.

앞으로의 계획을 물었다. “지난 5년은 힘들면 맥주 한 잔 하고 풀 수 있는 평범한 일상이 사라진 시간들이었어요. 이제 그 시간들을 회복해가야죠”

My parents never imagined that their youngest child, who knows so little about life, could ever get involved in such an unsavory thing. But still, my mother dries my hair everyday as I prepare to go to work. At first, I couldn’t tell her anything about it. And once I did, she really really hated it. However, later she said that if I was going to fight then I had to do it properly, and that she would support me. And that because my face was already out there, I had to do it prettily, so (laughing) she was always telling me what to wear! And in the end, whenever my strength and resolve were lagging, my family always made up for it (source, above).

Reporter Jang Il-ho: After talking without a break for 4 hours, I started taking pictures of Lee. She said “please try to make me look nice I guess”, but added that she “didn’t want people to think of her as a desirable woman, but rather as a fighter”. And she doesn’t want people to take pity on her, but instead think of her as someone who couldn’t lose, who is a symbol of hope, as she heard from so many women who’d also suffered sexual harassment that they could help her, but they couldn’t be like her, so she developed a real sense of herself as a fighter.

I asked about her plans for the future.  She said that “For the last 5 years, I’ve had no opportunities for a normal life, even just having a simple glass of beer. Now, I have to recover, and make up for lost time”. (end)

( Source )

Personally, I was a little disappointed with that conclusion to the interview: there were many further questions raised about the incidents of sexual harassment, the reaction of the company, and the lawsuit and so on in Part 1 and Part 2 (and indeed even here too), but unfortunately we were given a rather repetitive look at the emotional side of the case rather than any real answers to those. Not that her own feelings are trivial or uninteresting of course, but I am left feeling a little frustrated.

Anyone else feel the same way? There are a few more Korean-language sources available, so if you have any further questions yourself about the case, then I’ll endeavor to find the answers myself if they’re available, albeit only translating the relevant sections of the articles this time!^^

(“What? Sexual Harassment at Samsung Electronics?? Heaven Forbid!”. Source.)

This post, about Lee Eun-eui’s successful suit against Samsung Electronics for sexual harassment by her boss and then being punished for reporting it, follows directly from Part 1. If you haven’t already, please read that before continuing:

블로그에 “1차 레이싱이 얼추 막이 내렸다“라고 썼더라. 1차 레이싱을 뛰고 난 소감이 어떤가.

On your blog, you wrote that”The First Round is almost over”. How do feel about that?

아직 실감이 잘 안 난다. 꿈꾸는 것 같다. 회사가 항소를 할 건지 안 할 건지에 따라 바뀌겠지만, 지금은 해묵은 숙제를 끝내고 조금 쉴 수 있는 시간이다(삼성은 “내부적으로 법률적인 판단을 거친 뒤 항소 여부를 결정할 것이다”라고 밝혔다). 판결 뒤 며칠 편하게 잠을 잤다. 사건을 겪으면서 죽고 싶다는 생각도 많이 했다. 내가 일하는 건물(수원 삼성전기 본사)에서 죽을까, 삼성 본관이 있는 강남이나 태평로로 갈까…생각하면서. 그런데서 죽었으면 신문에 한 줄이라도 날까? 결국 살아서 싸우니까 좋은 결과를 본다고 판단했다. 삼성 사건 치고는 기사도 많이 나왔다(웃음).

It doesn’t feel like it’s real yet. It’s like a dream. Of course, Samsung may yet decide to file an appeal, but for now at least I am finally able to finish all my work related to the case and take a rest (Samsung stated that it will “decide whether or not to file an appeal after discussing the legal judgment within the company”), and I’ve slept soundly in the few days since the judgment was handed down. While the case was going on, I often thought of killing myself, but wondered whether to do it at my workplace (Suwon Samsung Electronics branch), at Samsung’s headquarters in Gangnam, or on Taepyeong Road [in front of Seoul City Hall – James]…but if I did, would it even get one line in a newspaper? So, I decided to carry on and fight, and in the end I was able to see a good result. And now (laughing) there are many articles about Samsung electronics in the news!

5억을 제기했었는데, 판결은 4천만 원을 배상하라고 나왔다.

You sued Samsung for 500 million won (US$422, 305), but were only awarded 40 (US$33,784)…?

따 지자면 5억을 받아도 성에 차지 않지만, 금액이 중요한 게 아니라 내용이 중요하다. 판사도 용기 있는 결단을 했다고 생각한다. 판결문 보고 엉엉 울었다. 판사에게 너무 고마웠다. 억울했던 것들에 대해서 인정을 받았으니까. 판사는 수많은 재판 중에 한 건이겠지만, 이건 굉장히 많은 여성 직장인들에게 큰 영향을 미칠 거라고 생각한다. ‘네가 이겨줘서 고맙다’ ‘뜨거운 마음으로 박수를 보낸다’ 등 연락도 많이 받았다. 회사에서 어려움을 겪는 분들, 특히 여직원들이 상담을 해오기도 한다. 아주 많은 숫자는 아니지만, 중요하다고 생각한다. 4천만 원을 배상하라는 것과는 비교할 수 없는 일이다. 회사가 항소하지 않으면 나도 안 할 생각이다. 이 판결을 그대로 유지하고 싶다.

이은의씨는 “미안한다는 말이 그렇게 어려웠을까”라고 기자에게 되물었다. 그녀는 가해자나 회사가 ‘미안하다’라며 사과를 했다면 소송까지도 가지 않았을 것이라고 했다.

Even if I’d received the full 500 million won, that wouldn’t have been enough to satisfy my anger, but then the amount isn’t the important thing anyway. I thought that the judge was very brave with his final decision, and I wept as it was read out, I was so thankful to him for showing everyone that what I’d said was true. And while to him this was surely just one case out of many, I think it will have a huge effect on women workers. I have received many messages like “Thank you for your victory” and “I applaud you with a warm heart” and so on, and have also been asked for advice from other women experiencing similar problems at their own companies. While their numbers aren’t great, I think that it is very important, and 40 million won can’t compare to that. And if Samsung doesn’t appeal, then I won’t either: I want this judgment to stick. (Source, above)

“Was it really so difficult for them to say sorry”? Lee Eun-eui asked. And she adds that if the offender or the company had simply apologized, then she probably wouldn’t have gone so far as to file a lawsuit against them.

2005년 5월 이후, 판결이 나기까지 5년이 걸렸다. 싸움이 쉽지 않았을 것 같다.

It has been 5 years since the first incident in May 2005 to the final judgment. It can’t have been easy.

사내에서 받아들여지지 않아 2007년 인권위에 진정했다. 인권위가 삼성전기에 재발방지 대책 수립 권고를 내렸지만, 회사는 권고를 취하해 달라며 행정소송을 제기했다. 그리고 2008년 내가 제기한 민사소송(손해배상)까지 내면서 ‘전문가’가 됐다. ‘삼성’이라고 하면 어느 곳도 싸워주겠다고 제대로 덤비는 곳이 없었다. 어렵게 도와주시는 변호사를 만났지만, 그런 과정을 거치다 보니 시간이 길어졌다.

회사가 ‘미안하다’라고만 했어도 일이 이렇게까지 안 됐을 거다. 사과는 커녕 ‘외부에 이런 사실을 알리면 민형사상 소송을 진행하겠다’라는 회사의 메일을 받을 때마다 처음엔 무서웠다. 인권위에 진정하기 전까지 2년 동안 병이 났다. 아버지가 갑자기 돌아가시고, 부서에서는 내쳐지고…배신감과 누적된 정신적 피로감이 폭발해서 실어증이 왔다. 당시에는 말만 시작하면 계속 울었다. 회사가 ‘성희롱 없었다’ ‘대기발령도 사실이 아니다’ ‘왕따도 없었다’라며 전면적으로 부정하는 데 정말 할 말을 잃었다. 결국 인권위에서 권고가 나왔고, 회사가 인권위에 제기한 행정소송에서도 인권위의 손을 들어줬다. 이번 민사소송도 승소했고. 주위에서는 ‘기적’이라고 한다.

As nothing was done within the company about my accusations, in 2007 I informed the Human Rights Commission, and they made an official recommendation to Samsung that the company needed to institute measures to prevent such sexual harassment from occurring again. Rather than following that recommendation however, Samsung sued the Human Rights Commission to have that recommendation withdrawn! Then in 2008 I filed my own civil suit against Samsung for personal damages, and in the process became quite the legal expert, as there were no lawyers prepared to take up my case and defy Samsung. In the end I did find a lawyer to help though, but that was just the start of a long and arduous legal process. (Source, above)

If only Samsung had said sorry, things would never have gone this far. But rather than apologize, instead they sent me emails saying they would sue me if I informed anyone outside the company of it, which was very scary at first. And in the 2 years before I informed the Human Rights Commission, I got very sick. My father suddenly passed away, I was completely cut out of the department I’d worked in…I felt such a sense of betrayal, and the mental stress and fatigue just kept accumulating and accumulating to the extent that I even developed aphasia. Whenever I started speaking, I would just keep crying. But the company completely lied and said that there was no sexual harassment, that I was not placed on extended leave, and that I was not ostracized at work, which just left me speechless anyway! In the end, once the Human Right Commission’s recommendation came, the company sued them but lost, and this time I won too. People around me say it’s a miracle.

(Source)

And, daughters permitting, Part 3 of the interview will be up on Monday!

( Source )

Extremely important for its ramifications for Korean workplaces, frankly I’m amazed that I’ve been unable to google any English-language sources on the following sexual-harassment case at Samsung. Perhaps the Korean English-language media still feels intimated by the company, let alone the Korean-language one?

Either way, it deserves to be much more widely known, and if I’d realized that when commenter “previouslyafter” first passed it on, I certainly wouldn’t have had a month’s break from blogging immediately thereafter! My apologies for the delay then, and to make the long article from Sisain more readable, I’ve decided to split it into 3 parts, especially as there are some important questions raised by the first. Which for the sake of accuracy and context, I would really appreciate readers’ help with answering before continuing translating Part 2:

삼성에 맞선 ‘만년 이 대리’의 기적 같은 승리

A Miracle-like Victory in a Long-time Deputy Section Chief Lee’s Stand Against Samsung

by Jang Il-ho (장일호), 28/04/10

뒷목과 머리카락으로 부서장의 손이 오고갔다. 브래지어 끈을 만지작거리는 날도 있었다. 해외 출장을 갔던 2005년의 어느 날, 부서장 박아무개씨는 엉덩이를 치면서 “상사를 잘 모시라”는 말을 하기도 했다. 삼성전기 전자영업팀에 근무하던 이은의 대리(36)는 지금도 그날의 수치를 잊지 못한다.

2005년 6월, 이은의씨는 더 이상 견딜 수 없어 부서장 박아무개씨한테 당한 성희롱 피해를 회사 인사팀에 알렸다. 그러나 돌아온 것은 부서장이 아닌 자신의 대기발령이었고, 부서전환, 그리고 왕따였다.

Park, the department head, would quickly touch the hair on her back of her neck with his hand. One day, he fondled the strap of her bra. And once while on a business trip in 2005, he stroked her buttocks while telling her “You should obey your superiors”. Deputy Section Chief Lee Eun-eui (36), who worked for Samsung’s electronic appliances’ sales team, still can’t lose the sense of shame and disgrace she felt on that day.

In June 2005, she decided she could stand no more from Park, and so informed the personnel department. Rather than Park being punished however, instead Lee was put on extended leave. Eventually she was brought back to work and transferred to a different department, but was generally ostracized in the company (source, right).

지 루한 법적공방이 이어졌다. 골리앗 삼성을 상대로 싸운 다는 게 어떤 것인지 그녀는 온몸으로 깨달았다. 실어증과 우울증을 앓았다. 자살까지 생각했다. 그러나 지난 4월15일 수원지방법원 성남지원 민사합의1부(재판장 황현찬)는 이씨의 손을 들어줬다. 회사 내에서 발생한 성희롱 사건과 관련해 가해자는 물론 회사도 책임이 있다는 판결이었다. 재판부는 판결문에서 “삼성전기는 원고가 직장 내 성희롱 피해를 당하였음에도 불구하고 그에 대한 적절한 조치를 취하지 않았고, 오히려 불이익한 조치까지 취하였으며 이로 인하여 원고가 정신적 고통을 입게 되었음은 경험칙상 명백하다. 가해자 박씨는 250만원, 삼성전기 3750만원, 모두 4천만원을 이씨에게 배상하라”고 밝혔다. 이씨는 판결문을 읽고 또 읽으면서 “엉엉 울었다”라고 말했다.

A tedious legal battle ensued, and Lee realized just how much of her it would take to fight a goliath like Samsung, eventually suffering from aphasia, depression, and even considering suicide. However, in a civil trial in the Songnam branch of the Suwon district court, Judge Hwang Hyeon-chan awarded damages to Lee on the 15th of April, and it was ruled that in addition to the perpetrator, clearly Samsung also had a responsibility for sexual harassment within the company. According to the judge’s ruling, “Despite the incidents, Samsung Electronics did not take measures to deal with the problem of sexual harassment within the company, but rather decided to disadvantage Lee instead, which clearly caused her great mental anguish”. Accordingly, perpetrator Park was ordered to pay her 2.5 million won in damages, while Samsung Electronics was ordered to pay 37.5 million won, for a total of 40 million won.  The judge also noted that Lee wept loudly as the ruling was being read.

지난 4월22일 서울 강남에서 이은의씨를 만났다. 이씨는 지금도 삼성에서 일하고 있다. 지난 1998년 삼성전기 경영지원팀 입사해 2003년부터 전자영업팀 해외 업무를 담당해 왔다. 성희롱 피해 사실을 알린 이후 7개월간 대기발령을 받았고, 기획팀을 거쳐 2007년부터는 인사팀 총무보안그룹 사회봉사단에서 결연후원을 모집하는 일을 하고 있다.

이씨는 “남미와 유렵 등에 부품을 판매하는 해외 영업을 해왔는데 성희롱 덕분에 졸지에 좋은 일 하는 부서로 옮겨졌다…벌써 8년째 대리다. 내 이름은 이은의가 아니라 ‘이 대리’다”라며 웃었다. 사건 이후 그의 인사고과는 늘 ‘C-‘, 그의 동료들은 벌써 과장 직함을 달았다.

( Source )

I met Ms. Lee Eun-eui on the 22nd of April in Gangnam in Seoul. She is still working for Samsung. She originally joined the company in 1998, first working for the management and support team. In 2003, she joined the electrical appliances’ sales team, where she focused on overseas affairs. And informing the personnel department of the sexual harassment, she was placed on 7 months leave, first joining the planning team and then from 2007 working the social welfare service group within the personnel department itself, helping to collect funds to be donated to charities.

Lee says “I used to deal with selling parts to overseas companies in South America and Europe and so on, but because of the sexual harassment I was very suddenly transferred to the social welfare service group…I’ve already been a deputy section chief for 8 years. My name isn’t ‘Lee Eun-eui,’ but ‘Deputy Section Chief Lee'” she laughed. And after she told the personnel department about the sexual harassment, they gave her an evaluation of ‘C-‘, whereas most of her colleagues have already been promoted to section chiefs.

And Jang Il-ho’s interview will continue in Part 2. But first, there is the question of the exact English meaning of 대기발령 mentioned in paragraph 2, and then 대기발령을받다 mentioned in paragraph 5, as after a great deal of debate with my (Korean) wife…we realized that we really had no idea. According to my cheap electronic dictionary however, 대기하다 means to “wait for a chance; be on alert; be on standby”, whereas according to Naver 대기발령 means to “be placed on the waiting list”, and 대기발령을받다 to “wait to be assigned or placed in”. Hence we plumped for to “be put on extended leave” in the end, but I would appreciate it if any readers could confirm that, and regardless it raises the additional questions of if it was unpaid, how common it is at Korean workplaces, and/or if it is only ever done to punish employees?

My original second question was much more important, but I’ve since been able to answer it through a report on the judge’s ruling on SBS News on the 21st of April, which unfortunately I’ve been unable to embed nor to download. If you fast-forward to 1:40 however, you’ll see that it leads with the headline above that “Companies also have responsibility for sexual harassment” and indeed the newscaster says that this is actually the very first time that such a judgment has been made; a notion I find simply bizarre on the one hand, and yet all too explicable in light of Korea having the “most unfriendly work conditions for women in OECD” on the other.

But am I misguided though, in believing that in cases of sexual harassment in the workplace in Western countries, it is generally employers rather than individual perpetrators that are considered liable?

Regardless, I’m sure you’ll agree that an important precedent has been set, and now I’m really looking forward to learning more about it in Part 2, which you can expect to be be up on Thursday Friday!