Samsung’s US hub, South Korea headquarters hit with racism allegations

A legal dispute has unfolded over a claim that a former senior engineer at Samsung Research America (SRA) was wrongfully dismissed after reporting an alleged racist remark.

In a February 20 court motion and related dossier obtained by The Korea Times, the plaintiff alleged that Samsung’s headquarters has been maintaining an “unlawful prejudice against dark-skinned employees,” citing new testimonies saying that similar discriminatory practices originated from the headquarters and only Korean and sometimes Caucasian men were eligible for high-level positions.

Samsung’s headquarters declined to comment, citing that legal proceedings regarding the case are ongoing.

Andrew Mo, who alleged that his employment with SRA was wrongfully terminated in January 2022, filed a motion with the Superior Court of the State of California to amend his complaint against SRA. The motion seeks to add Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Electronics as defendants in the case.

SRA is headquartered in Silicon Valley, serving as the US hub of Samsung Electronics’ research for emerging technologies. Mo was a former engineering leader at Google AI and joined SRA in May 2021 as the head of the Visual Display Intelligence Lab.