You know the old saying, “don’t worry about it, it will all come out in the wash,” well the head of LG’s Home Appliance and Air Solution Company, Jo Seong-jin, is hoping those words come true as his ‘dirty laundry’ is aired in the courtroom. What can only be described as bad scene out of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” where Mike said, “I woke up in a great mood; I don’t know what the hell happened,” as Jo was banned from traveling to the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas.
Jo and four other LG Electronics executives were hit with a lawsuit from Samsung, which claims that earlier this year, after the IFA trade show in Berlin; the LG executives intentionally sabotaged the door hinges of one of Samsung’s washing machines at an electronics store. Although they vehemently denied damaging the machine, Samsung provided evidence of both the washing machine and the CCTV footage showing that Jo “willfully” damaged the washing machine. LG is counter suing Samsung for defamation and evidence tampering.
The other four LG executives have complied with the courts and their investigation, so they are allowed to leave the country to attend the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas. However, Jo has ignored multiple requests to come in and talk with the investigators, instead telling them he will comply when he returns from CES in early January, but so far, the courts have ignored his requests. It would look pretty bad if the head of LG’s Home Appliance was not allowed to attend the biggest electronics show and Samsung is using this as proof of the seriousness that the courts are considering this act of sabotage.
LG and Samsung may be from the same country of South Korea, but they are fiercely competitive rivals. Many think of smartphones when they hear Samsung and LG, but the truth is that they make Smart TVs and a full array of smart home appliances – from refrigerators to washers and dryers. There is a joke that goes something like this – Why don’t men do the laundry? Because the washer and dryer don’t run with a remote control! Even that is about to change as Wi-Fi ready washers and dryers can now be controlled with an app on your smartphone or tablet, so men, pull out that smartphone and get ready to start washing clothes. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you own any LG or Samsung appliances and what you think of them…as always, we would love to hear from you.