Ex-Cheil Australia staff launch Fair Work claims against Samsung in-house agency
Samsung’s in-house agency, Cheil Australia, is facing Federal Court action from two former senior leaders who were sacked last year.
The South Korea-headquartered global agency appeared in two separate court hearings on 9 March. The complaints were filed by former group director Trent Ellis and head of digital Peter Bojanac, both alleging breaches of the Fair Work Act.
Cheil has firmly denied the allegations. CEO Byung Gon Park, who goes by Marvin, said in a statement to Mumbrella:
“Cheil notes that proceedings have been commenced against it by Mr Trent Ellis and Mr Peter Bojanac. Those matters are currently before the Courts. As the matters are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail at this time. Cheil, however, disputes the allegations that have been raised and will be defending the proceedings. Cheil will not be making any further public comment at this stage.”
Ellis, a former digital marketer for Hyundai and Metcash, joined Cheil in October 2023 as head of client services and was promoted to group director in December 2024. He was reportedly let go in July last year and filed a claim of “breach of general protections” against the agency on 31 October.
The case was ordered to go before mediation, which was heard during the 9 March hearing. Under mediation rules, Ellis has seven days from the conclusion of mediation for the matter to be relisted for a directions hearing.
Bojanac is understood to have joined Cheil at the beginning of 2025 and was let go around the same time as Ellis. He filed a similar breach claim in September and appeared for his first interlocutory hearing on 9 March; he is now due to return on 24 April.
Both Ellis and Bojanac were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
Cheil was founded in 1973 as a marketing company within the Samsung Electronics conglomerate, which now owns more than a quarter of its shares.
Having built a global footprint, Cheil launched in Australia in 2011, later bringing its retail business, OneRX, to the country in May 2023.
That year, the company re-registered with ASIC and shortly after appointed Park, a former leader of Cheil Ukraine and campaign director at Cheil India, to lead its Australian operations.
The company provides advertising, PR, shopper marketing, sports, and digital marketing for Samsung and other markets, although Mumbrella understands the Australian team largely focuses on Samsung accounts.
Eighty-four people are listed as working at Cheil Australia on Linkedin.
