Employee Sued After Allegedly Stealing IVE Photocards

A Papa John’s franchise owner who sued a part-time employee for allegedly stealing 37 IVE photocards worth around ₩1.50 million KRW (about $1,030 USD) has lost the case. The court ruled that the employee appeared to have taken the photocards with the permission of the store manager, who was in charge of the branch. The owner had also filed a criminal complaint for embezzlement, but prosecutors dismissed it for lack of evidence.

According to legal sources on November 11, the Seoul Northern District Court’s Civil Division 3-2 (Presiding Judge Heo Sun Ah) dismissed the franchise owner’s appeal. The second trial upheld the lower court’s ruling against the owner, concluding there was no proof that the part-timer embezzled 37 IVE photocards.

Papa John’s regularly runs promotions offering K-pop idol group IVE’s photocards with certain pizza orders. In 2023, the event ran for about two months. The franchise owner of the Jungnang-gu, Seoul branch had purchased 250 photocards from headquarters for about ₩270,000 KRW (about $185 USD).

The dispute began when part-timer A took 37 photocards on four separate occasions. The owner accused A of embezzlement and filed a civil lawsuit, claiming because the photocards were missing, pizzas were unable to be sold. The owner demanded ₩1.47 million KRW (about $1,010 USD) in damages — the combined cost of 42 photocards and pizzas priced at ₩35,000 KRW (about $24.00 USD) each.

During trial, the employee admitted to taking the photocards but denied any wrongdoing, claimign that the store manager approved it. The manager confirmed this in court.

After reviewing the evidence, the court sided with the employee, ruling that “it is reasonable to view that the part-timer took the photocards with the manager’s consent.” The judge noted that CCTV footage showed A “moving naturally without any signs of concealment or theft,” and that the manager testified that the employee only took the photocards after permission was given.

The court also referenced a recorded phone call between the manager and the part-timer’s mother, in which the manager apologized to the part-timer’s mother for giving them permission. Given that the manager oversaw both employee management and event operations, the court recognized that the manager had authority to approve the action.

Everyone was cleared of charges in the end.