Facts

Plaintiff Yunhwan Park was employed as a printer in Korea by a subsidiary of Joong-Ang Ilbo, a Korean newspaper company. Joong-Ang Ilbo is the parent company of Joong-Ang Media Network USA, Inc., a Korean newspaper company in the USA. Its Los Angeles subsidiary is Joong-Ang Daily News California Inc., the publisher of a Korean language newspaper.

Plaintiff filed suit against defendants Joong-Ang Daily News California and Joong-Ang Media Network USA, in connection with an employment dispute.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended that Joong-Ang Ilbo transferred him from Korea to be a printer in Los Angeles. Plaintiff claimed that he was not paid all wages for overtime and meal breaks. Plaintiff also claimed various other Labor Code Violations.

Additionally, the Korean parent company agreed to pay all the living expenses of plaintiff while employed in Los Angeles but failed to pay these expenses during employment.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants claimed that plaintiff was not employed by Joong-Ang Media Network USA Inc., was paid all overtime, and was not entitled to reimbursement for living expenses.

Settlement Discussions

Mediator proposal of $30,000 was not accepted.

Result

After a four-day trial, the court rendered a bench decision in favor of plaintiff on all causes of action including injunctive relief. Plaintiff was awarded $119,088, which was the exact amount claimed by plaintiff during the trial. The court also ordered pre-judgment interest in the sum of $41,142.56 for the period May 9, 2012 to Oct. 22, 2015. The total judgment was $160,230.85. Plaintiff was also awarded attorney fees of $258,155.

Other Information

In addition, the court issued an injunction against all defendants from violating Labor Code 204 and 226, based on testimony from defendants' executives that all company employees were paid overtime only once per month. Defendant has filed an appeal. FILING DATE: May 9, 2012.