Misook McDonald, who worked for Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, also claimed she confronted her boss, Ho Seung Yoo, after he ordered her to make coffee. “I asked Mr. Yoo why was I being asked to do secretarial duties such as making coffees,” McDonald said speaking to an employment tribunal board. He said, ‘isn’t that what female employees should do?”
McDonald also alleged she was demoted from a managerial role to an administrator one because she is not a white British man. McDonald’s father is English and her mother is South Korean.
“I expressed that I felt discriminated just because I am viewed as a Korean female and younger, hence lower in status that I can be looked down upon and pushed aside,” McDonald said. “I know if I had been an older British white Caucasian male, Mr. Yoo would have seen me very differently and would not dare to push me around so easily.”
Yoo denied McDonald’s claims. "The suggestion raised by Mrs. McDonald as to me demanding that she bow to me is simply not true," Yoo said. "Bowing is considered a custom in Korea but nobody in our UK office is required to bow,” he added. “Some of our Korean staff choose to bow but as I say nobody must bow, it is entirely voluntary.”