JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
NewJeans 'could still lose' contract lawsuit against ADOR as Min Hee Jin fights HYBE, experts weigh in
NewJeans needs to win their contract validity lawsuit against ADOR after losing the injunction. The case may be impacted by the ongoing dispute between Min Hee Jin and HYBE. Know more.
The first hearing of the contractual dispute between NewJeans and their agency, ADOR, took place on March 7 and ended without any progress. Both sides seemed far apart on a potential settlement, leading to a second hearing date set for June 5. Previously, the court upheld ADOR's injunction request, putting the group at a disadvantage. With the case receiving nationwide attention, legal experts have come up to analyze the situation, as reported by K-media, The Korea Herald, on April 17.
Bae Jin Sung, an entertainment lawyer at Law Firm Myoungjae, was of the opinion that "Wednesday’s rejected objection regarding the injunction does not affect the outcome of the main lawsuit, though the injunction can still be challenged further within an appeal process." As per him, NewJeans' only way of cutting ties with the agency for good was to win the exclusive contract validity lawsuit. He stated that the injunction loss "does not affect" the "main lawsuit"—the contract validity case—and the quintet 'must win' it if they want to go independent.
Lawyer Bae Jin Sung also weighed in on the ongoing HYBE vs. Min Hee Jin dispute and whether or not it might affect the NewJeans vs. ADOR case. "The shareholder dispute between Hybe and Min Hee Jin is over the terms of their shareholder agreement. While elements of that conflict may surface as context in ADOR’s injunction, it is difficult to say the two cases are directly connected," he said. The legal conflict is regarding the ex-ADOR CEO's contract termination and right to exercise a 26 billion KRW put option after selling 13.5% of her 18% stake in ADOR to HYBE.
The legal expert claimed that Min Hee Jin and NewJeans' lawsuits "may influence each other indirectly, but the legal issues differ in detail." Even though the cases included overlapping angles, Bae Jin Sung mentioned that they might not influence the ruling of each other completely. He further stated, "Even if Min wins, NewJeans could still lose the main lawsuit against ADOR."
The main lawsuit includes NewJeans' 11 allegations against ADOR regarding their mistreatment of the girl group members, leading to the breaking of terms of their exclusive contract. Based on that, they claimed that they were no longer contract-bound by ADOR, which the label challenged.
