Rights commission calls for leniency for ex-Coupang workers indicted in 'blacklist' case

SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has asked prosecutors to exercise leniency for two former Coupang workers accused of leaking company data to divulge allegations that the company maintained a blacklist of people banned from rehiring, officials said Thursday.

The two first raised the allegations in 2024, saying Coupang's logistics arm, Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS), created a blacklist of more than 16,000 individuals deemed persona non grata. One of the two whistleblowers had worked for CFS' human resources team.

The company struck back, saying the information is legitimate HR data, and filed criminal complaints accusing the two of leaking company information without authorization. As public outrage grew over the company's practices, the Coupang subsidiary apologized and dropped the complaints against the two.

Still, however, the police investigation continued and the two were ultimately indicted because violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection is an offense that can be prosecuted regardless of the victim's will.

On Thursday, the civil rights commission said it has asked the Suwon District Prosecutors Office to exercise leniency for the two so that they can be acquitted or receive lighter sentences than usual because what they did happened in the course of blowing the whistle in the public interest.

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