“Women are perceived as weak”
ATLANTA, March 15, 2013 — Atlanta law firm, Barrett & Farahany, LLP, filed suit today in federal court against US-based mobile commerce company, SK C&C USA, on behalf of a former employee (“Plaintiff”) for discrimination and retaliation allegations. The Plaintiff, a former marketing manager at SK C&C, alleges that she was the victim of intentional, premeditated retaliation after she reported that SK’s chief Strategy Officer, Sang Yook, announced to a room of women that they were “perceived as weak”. He told the one male employee in the room that his comment did not pertain to him.
The Plaintiff claims she feared retaliation from SK C&C USA as soon as the HR Director began to investigate her claim. “Once I realized that my report would result in an internal investigation, I feared the repercussions. I had witnessed the track record of SK C&C USA in dealing with employees that challenged the executives. Even though I had been a valuable asset to the company, had good performance reviews, and had even just received a performance bonus, I knew my contributions would not matter.” She added, “The sad irony is that HR had just conducted discrimination and harassment training earlier that day – and the CSO attended!”
Less than two months from the day the Plaintiff complained to the HR Director, she was terminated. “I knew it was coming,” claims the Plaintiff. On April 20th, a senior VP and close colleague informed the Plaintiff that Jae H. Chung, president and CEO of SK C&C USA, had told him he was planning to let her go because she was “too risky” to keep employed and that he was going “to structure” her termination so it would not look like intentional retaliation. The company terminated the Plaintiff, but kept the Korean employees in the department.
The week after the Plaintiff was terminated, she filed a discrimination and retaliation claim against SK C&C USA with the Georgia EEOC. This claim is one of at least four discrimination complaints brought against SK C&C USA since its inception in 2010. The Plaintiff is represented by Amanda Farahany and Abigail Larimer of Barrett & Farahany, LLP.
About SK C&C USA (dba CorFire)
SK C&C USA (branded as CorFire) is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Korean technology giant, SK C&C. With the rise of the mobile phone industry, SK C&C established its US subsidiary in 2010 to provide mobile commerce technology to North America.
As the mobile commerce business of SK C&C USA, CorFire leverages the billion dollar financial backing of its parent company, SK C&C, with its 10+ years of mobile payments experience to provide a scalable technology that helps companies move their mobile commerce platforms forward.
In a press release Feb. 27, 2013, parent company SK C&C announced its partnership with VeriFone and stated:
“SK C&C has experienced double digit growth every year since its establishment, and currently aims to become a top global ICT player through enhanced business competitiveness, secured ICT convergence capabilities and proactive expansion of its global reach driven by innovation. With its over 10 years’ mobile payment experience, SK C&C launched its global mobile commerce business in 2010, and delivered its mobile commerce solution (Corfire) to global leading MNOs and merchants.”
Since the SK C&C USA subsidiary opened, it has made its own high-profile partnerships with such large Atlanta-based companies as First Data Corp. and InComm. Over the last year, SK C&C USA also announced deals with Dunkin Donuts, Vodafone, and PayPal. In November 2012, the company announced expansion into the United Kingdom with a London-based office. The company’s attorney claimed yesterday that the company’s sudden decision to terminate the marketing department last April was due to budget cuts necessary for the company “to survive.”
About Barrett & Farahany, LLP LLP
Having achieved the largest verdict in the nation on a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case, the Atlanta law firm of Barrett & Farahany, LLP LLP has proven success representing individuals in employment claims, including wrongful termination, FMLA, discrimination, overtime, executive compensation, and sexual harassment cases. For more information, visit www.bf-llp.com.
For more information, contact:
Amanda A. Farahany
(404) 238-7299
