Fired Prudential Life employee commits suicide

By You Soo-sun

A former employee of the Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea LTD died at the company headquarters in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, Tuesday.

Yang Man-seung, 57, committed suicide by jumping out of a window on the 21st floor of the building, after a failed attempt to meet the company head, according to Cho Sung-man, 60, who was also dismissed from the company. A police investigation is underway. The two, formerly contracted branch managers, were let go from the company last month.

Cho, who had been with the company since 1990, said they had been wrongfully dismissed. The two failed to meet company performance standards, which the company changed often and made difficult to achieve, he claimed.

“The company did that in order to fire us, the oldest employees remaining at the company,” Cho said.

Cho argued that although there were seven employees who failed to meet the requirements, only two of them ― the oldest two ― had been fired. Three of the seven left their jobs voluntarily in return for more compensation, he said.

“I’ve been with the company since the beginning in 1990. Yang had been here since 1996. The dismissal was so unfair, we were wronged,” Cho said. The two were notified of their dismissals in July and had since attempted to speak to the company management, but were turned away every time.

“Financially, the company has been under tough circumstances,” Cho said. “The stress was immeasurable. Even a 40-year-old employee collapsed after a stroke.”

A Prudential employee confirmed the death of the ex-employee, but was told Yang had come to the office to meet a colleague, not the company head. She said the police investigation was still underway and could not make any further comments. The company also confirmed the reason for their dismissals as poor performance.