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Pernod Ricard Korea faces probe over sexual harassment, unfair labor practices

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Pernod Ricard Korea CEO Jean Touboul
Pernod Ricard Korea CEO Jean Touboul

By Park Si-soo

Pernod Ricard Korea, headed by CEO Jean Touboul, will face a prosecutor investigation for alleged sexual harassment and unfair labor practices at the French liquor company's Korean unit, according to the labor ministry Tuesday.

The ministry's Seoul office made the recommendation after scrutinizing the company for two months, introducing another setback for Pernod Ricard Korea, which has been wrestling with declining sales and frequent disputes with the union.

The office said all the speculations about illegal labor practices and sexual misconduct were found to be true, demanding the company discipline a senior sales executive allegedly responsible. The CEO is also suspected of having tried to disband the union.

He was criticized last June for denying the allegations in a meeting with employees, and once again in October for the same attitude during a parliamentary hearing. The latter triggered the ministry's investigation into the company.

The Korea Times contacted Pernod Ricard Korea several times for comment, without success.


According to the union, the sales executive has verbally abused his subordinates since the CEO's inauguration in September 2016.

In one case, he told a female employee suffering from fertility problems, "You should have sex with your husband until fingernail scratches are seen on his back." In another case, the executive ordered an estranged worker: "I will be happy if you chew gum I have chewed."

The CEO and other senior executives are suspected of having conspired to keep team leaders from joining the union in the name of "normalization of labor-management ties."

Meanwhile, Pernod Ricard Korea said it had sold its right to sell Imperial whisky in Korea to Drink International, a local liquor distributor.

In a letter to its dealers, the company said Drink International would take over the right on March 1.


Park Si-soo pss@koreatimes.co.kr


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