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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] It has emerged that e-commerce giant Coupang filed an administrative lawsuit challenging an industrial accident ruling related to the death of a warehouse worker in 2021.
According to legal sources on Monday, Coupang filed a lawsuit in June last year seeking to overturn a decision by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (KCOMWEL), which had recognized the death of a logistics center worker, identified by the surname Choi, as a work-related industrial accident.
Choi began working at a Coupang fulfillment center in early October 2020, performing duties such as product sorting and loading. Approximately six months later, in April 2021, he was found dead at home. The cause of death was identified as coronary artery sclerosis and acute myocardial infarction.
In November 2023, KCOMWEL determined that despite Choi’s pre-existing conditions, including hyperlipidemia, work-related factors such as shift work and physically demanding labor had contributed to the onset of the fatal condition, and therefore approved the case as an industrial accident.
Coupang explained that its decision to file the lawsuit was based on what it described as a “procedural defect.” According to the company, the compensation authority initially rejected the industrial accident claim, but later reversed its decision after the bereaved family filed an objection, which Coupang argues was submitted after the statutory deadline for reconsideration requests.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
