I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 350

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 350
I quickly informed the FaceNote Asia branch about the situation.
And I asked Jin-seo to accompany me.
“Jin-seo, let’s head to the U.S. headquarters together. It seems a sexual harassment incident has occurred at the main office. We’ll investigate the situation, implement appropriate disciplinary measures, and revise company regulations. The Asia branch will apply the same regulations.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare for the business trip right away.”
“The flight is tonight.”
I hurried my steps toward Alpha.
When I informed Tae-guk about this, he insisted on coming along.
“Sung-guk, I’m coming too. I want to show Jin-seo the house I used to live in and the restaurant I frequented….”
[A dog at a village school still has a long way to go before becoming human. Don’t you understand how critical and urgent this situation is?!]
As I cursed silently with my eyes, Tae-guk seemed to grasp the situation a bit better.
“William, going on a business trip with Jin-seo might not look good to other colleagues. Besides, we don’t have time for sightseeing right now. You know I’m on military service leave, so I have to return to Korea immediately once this is done.”
“Oh, sorry…. We’ll check it out next time, I guess.”
Tae-guk now easily accepted such situations.
“Sung-guk, Dad’s handling the passport, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you ask Samjeon for these things? You could ask Hyojin Group too.”
“Well, Samjeon is faster, isn’t it?”
I gave a vague answer.
But there was another reason for asking Samjeon.
Honestly, I didn’t want to cause trouble for Hyo-jin if this special favor later became an issue or controversy.
Legally, there would be no problem, but people always looking to attack would manufacture issues anyway.
“That’s right. In South Korea, one word from Samjeon and it’s done.”
Tae-guk seemed a bit proud.
“Then, I’ll return with Sam once the work is finished.”
“Don’t overwork our Jin-seo.”
“William, we must separate work and personal matters.”
I quickly grabbed my laptop and left the office.
* * *
Mark and Lim Mi-mi came to pick us up at the airport.
Mark’s face had grown gaunt since I last saw him.
I could guess how much stress he’d been under recently.
“Sung-guk, thanks for coming all this way.”
“Your face tells me something has gone seriously wrong?”
“Let’s go by car first. I’ll explain on the way to the company.”
“Okay.”
I introduced Jin-seo, who had come with me, and we all headed to the FaceNote headquarters.
* * *
“Sir, since Mark is driving, I’ll explain instead.”
“Please do.”
Lim Mi-mi turned from the front passenger seat to look back at me.
“The sexual harassment issue surfaced ten days ago.”
“Ten days? Why are you telling me about this now?”
As I pressed Lim Mi-mi, Mark stepped in to mediate.
“Sung-guk, we initially didn’t think it was a major issue either… and that turned out to be a mistake.”
“Lim Mi-mi, please continue.”
“Yes, sir. The sexual harassment occurred between a male employee and a female employee who didn’t have a good relationship, while they were working the night shift. As you know, our company has many employees who work at night.”
FaceNote’s headquarters had implemented a flexible work schedule, allowing employees to come and go at their preferred times. Those suited to working nights would come in late and leave in the morning.
“Then there must have been other employees around, right?”
“Yes… so it wasn’t a major issue at first, but the male employee attempted physical contact—touching the new female employee’s shoulder while teaching her work—and made comments like suggesting they grab drinks together. When a married female employee who witnessed this said something, the male employee hurled abusive language at her.”
“What kind of abusive language?”
“He told her, ‘Pigs like you should disappear.'”
Whether in Korea or the United States, there was no remedy for people lacking basic decency.
Lim Mi-mi continued her account.
“The female employee reported the incident to our HR department the next day, and as soon as we heard about it, we immediately reassigned the male employee to remote work and launched an investigation.”
“That was an appropriate response.”
“The problem is that our company lacks proper internal regulations regarding sexual harassment and abusive language, so the male employee is now threatening legal action in case he gets fired—claiming wrongful termination and such.”
I recalled the male employee’s resume and his work performance up to that point.
He had graduated from a prestigious university on the West Coast, worked at Google, and then joined FaceNote.
Since he was hired after I left for Korea, I had never worked with him directly.
“Mark, how was that guy Michael’s work performance?”
“Honestly, he’s competent… but you know, there are plenty of people with that level of skill. He’s been using his abilities as a weapon to act arrogantly around others. Especially with female employees—he seems to have made quite a few inappropriate advances over time.”
“Making advances and getting rejected isn’t something the company should interfere with.”
“Right. In Michael’s case, the company is overreacting. He was simply teaching work to a new female employee, and the married female employee got jealous. The married employee was the one who first rudely told the new employee to stay away from him. That’s his position, essentially.”
“He seems to have serious character issues. Either way, we can’t keep him at our company.”
“Right. Mi-mi and I share the same view.”
“Mark, our company will be going public soon. Honestly, if problems like this emerge after the IPO, the fallout will be much worse. I think we need to establish clear company regulations this time and make it known that we’ll take strong action against any perpetrators of sexual harassment—whether male or female.”
“You’re right, Sung-guk….”
Mark answered in a heavy voice.
As the company grew, unexpected problems erupted from all directions.
It was clear that these issues weighed heavily on Mark, who had simply wanted to sit quietly and focus on development.
* * *
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knock sounded, and Michael entered.
Michael looked at me and the Lawyer sitting beside me, his expression momentarily uncertain.
“Michael Block, correct?”
“Yes, Sung-guk. It’s an honor to meet you like this. I joined the company after you went back to Korea.”
Michael Block approached with a gentlemanly demeanor, contrary to what I’d heard.
[Is that why he passed the interview?]
I made an effort to view Michael Block as fairly as possible.
“I’ve reviewed your resume. You graduated from Stanford and have experience working at Google.”
Michael shrugged at my words.
People of his type tended to show off whenever you gave them even the slightest praise.
“Google did ask me to stay several times, but I wanted to work at an SNS company, which is the trend these days.”
“So you chose FaceNote?”
“Yes, Sung-guk.”
[Time to get down to business.]
I folded my hands in front of me.
“Michael, I’ve reviewed everything the HR department compiled for you, and I’ve examined all the CCTV footage in the office. The cameras clearly captured you placing your hand on a new female employee’s shoulder, and that employee indicated to you that she found this quite uncomfortable and offensive. Isn’t that correct?”
“Ah, that… honestly, I had so much work that day… I don’t remember it well.”
[Don’t remember? This tactic is the same whether it’s Korea or America.]
I played the CCTV footage from that day.
“Let’s refresh your memory.”
Michael’s face twisted oddly.
He clearly knew what he’d done.
“Sung-guk… I really wasn’t thinking about anything. I was working late and I don’t even remember if I put my hand on her shoulder or what. You know how it is, Sung-guk. Our company pushes us to work too hard.”
[Now he’s going to claim he doesn’t remember because of excessive workload?]
Michael Block had come fully prepared.
“I believe this matter is separate from that issue. From our company’s perspective, based on the circumstances, it’s clear that Michael Block engaged in sexual harassment, and we are terminating your employment.”
“I’m really being treated unfairly, Sung-guk! That blonde woman seduced me. I’ll meet with her right now. That fat, ugly woman put me up to it!”
“Michael, that statement is clear defamation of character. If you feel wronged and aggrieved, you’re welcome to pursue legal action. We’re fully prepared for that as well. Michael, you’re fired.”
* * *
Mark, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, came in right after Michael left.
“Sung-guk, that was absolutely cool!”
“Mark, try to handle situations like this yourself too. Our company isn’t small anymore, and we have a legal counsel on retainer.”
“Sorry, Sung-guk….”
“By the way, Michael will probably leak to the media as soon as he leaves that he was wrongfully terminated from our company.”
“Really?”
“I looked into it and found out one of the executives at BBK Broadcasting is his uncle. Wrongful termination and sexual harassment are always hot issues. Especially when they happen at a company like ours that has the world’s attention.”
“So what do we do?”
Mark bounced on his feet nervously.
“We strike first. Tonight, I’m going to announce on FaceNote that we terminated a male employee on sexual harassment allegations, and that this incident made us realize our company’s internal policies still have significant gaps regarding gender issues. I’ll declare that we’re establishing a separate committee to address gender problems, and we’ll complete the establishment of childcare facilities for married female employees and nursing rooms by the end of this year.”
“Sung-guk, are you really going to do all that by the end of the year?”
“Yes. And we’ll actively encourage male employees to take parental leave as well. We should also develop detailed plans for childbirth bonuses and educational support for children that apply to both men and women. After all, gender issues need to be fair….”
Mark nodded.
“Then Michael Block won’t be able to get ahead of us in the media, will he?”
“Of course not. It’ll be hard for him to claim wrongful termination when there’s already plenty of testimony and the circumstances are against him. He’ll probably realize it’s better to quietly accept the termination and find another job.”
“But people like this will cause problems at their next workplace too….”
“Of course we need to put him on the IT industry blacklist. He needs to understand how his thoughtless small action was a hellish experience for the victim.”
“Right… let’s handle it that way.”
I stepped out to the office and conveyed this to Lim Jin-seo.
“Since the Asia branch is still relatively small, let’s encourage male employees to take parental leave. We should prioritize researching childcare support policies through various channels and establish them quickly.”
“Yes, Sung-guk. But, Sung-guk….”
Lim Jin-seo’s eyes suddenly sparkled.
What was this about?
“Lim Jin-seo, what’s wrong?”
“I… I’d like to work at the headquarters once.”
Lim Jin-seo gauged my reaction before continuing.
“I followed Sung-guk here, and though it was a short time, seeing how you work here has made me ambitious to experience working at the US headquarters.”
“So you won’t be returning to Korea?”
“That’s not it. I want to go back to Korea first and organize policies and support initiatives regarding gender issues at the FaceNote and YouTube branches. Then I’d like to transfer to headquarters.”
Lim Jin-seo spoke with sincerity.
Lim Jin-seo had always been quite ambitious about work.
She had left Kim Yeo-na’s agency and joined FaceNote because she wanted to realize a new vision.
If that were the case, it was obvious the US headquarters would be more appealing than Korea.
But there was one person who troubled me.
Jeon Tae-guk….
[Just as Teacher Lee of Samcheongdong said, is Jeon Tae-guk’s parting next year truly unavoidable….]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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