Inappropriations
Woori Bank is getting itself into sex and loan scandals in major cities around the world.
Two contract employees filed a lawsuit in New York Criminal Court against Woori Bank New York Branch for being harassed for revealing sexual harassment at work, asking for US$3.5 million (3.58 billion won) from the main branch in Seoul.
In September 2012, a male employee dispatched from the main branch allegedly sexually harassed two local female employees. To make things worse, he also allegedly escalated his actions to the level of sexual assault two months later.
The female employees also said that the alleged often physically and verbally harassed them and gave excuses like he was drunk or that it happens all the time in Korean banks.
The alleged harasser was called back to the main office in Seoul prematurely after the victims notified the main branch about the incidents. The two female employees were soon subjected to a steady stream of requests to do work outside of their initial job description, or given no tasks at all.
According to the affidavit, the alleged sat next to a female employee and kissed her on the back of her hand and hugged her. To another female employee, he put his hand inside her skirt and touched her thighs. The vice branch manager and the headquarters director were also allegedly at the scene, but they neglected to respond to the situation.
The deputy for the plaintiff said, “The compensation of US$3.5 million is the minimum amount we are asking, and we also asked the members of the jury for punitive damages separately,” and “If the jury thinks the case is serious enough, the amount Woori Bank will pay could be astronomical.”
Prior to this case, the branch manager of the Tokyo branch of Woori Bank committed suicide during an investigation into 61 billion won (US$5.98 million) of illegal loans made at his branch.
Now that the funeral for the dead branch manager is all wrapped up, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is going to continue with the investigation into this case. It is going to zone in on whether he had received rebates or other types of valuables.