Gangnam Criminal Attorney | Client Accused of Defamation Obtains a Non-Referral Decision

The client, who was a student, began a part-time job near the school during the vacation to earn pocket money.

However, from the very first day of work the client was subjected to disrespect and verbal abuse by the owner and quit.

Hoping that no other person would become a victim like the client, the client posted a review of the workplace on a local online community for the public benefit.

The complainant, who saw the post, accused the client of writing an exaggerated post for the purpose of disparaging the business, causing harm to the business and to the complainant, and of defaming the complainant by stating false facts through an information and communications network for the purpose of disparaging the owner and the business.

The complainant claimed that customers who had visited the business also saw the post and murmured that they had formed a negative impression of the business.

The Gangnam criminal attorney therefore closely investigated the situation at the business that the complainant had alleged.

In addition, through close cooperation with Daeryun Law Firm's own evidence examination and digital forensics group, key evidence for resolving the case was systematically secured.

The business's CCTV was collected, and the statement of a part-time worker who had been at the complainant's business at the time was obtained.

Contrary to the complainant's claim, the part-time worker who had been at the complainant's business stated that he or she had heard nothing about the business at the time of the incident.

Because the client had posted on an online community that many people could view, publicity was established, which could have placed the client at a disadvantage.

Defamation is an offense that punishes conduct defaming another person's reputation, and it is set out in Article 307 of the Criminal Act and Article 70 of the Network Act.

For defamation to be committed, publicity must be established.

In defamation, publicity means that the defamatory content must be communicated to an unspecified number of people.

The criteria for recognizing publicity (the possibility of dissemination) are as follows.

1) Speaking in a public place or posting on the internet
2) Even where a statement is made to a single unspecified person, where there is a possibility that the content will spread to a wider scope

The Gangnam criminal attorney therefore provided assistance aimed at proving that there had been no intent, one of the elements of defamation.

Intent means deliberately presenting a particular fact in order to damage another person's social standing.

The Gangnam criminal attorney strongly argued that the post the client left on the online community was a simple review and that there was no intent whatsoever to damage anyone's reputation.

The attorney strongly argued that the post had been written with the intent of sharing the client's own part-time work experience, that there had been no purpose of disparagement that would damage the reputation of the business, and that it had been written for the public benefit as a reference for those applying for part-time work.