A wrongful termination lawsuit filed against a martial arts empire headquartered in Tomball has revealed allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.
The World Kuk Sool Association (WKSA), dedicated to the study of Kuk Sool Won or Korean martial arts, has more than a million members at hundreds of schools in 27 countries, according to its website.
Soon Jin Su is the oldest son of founder In Hyuk Sun. He is suing the association, which is now led by his father and his second son, Alex Suh.
“My client is suing the World Kuk Sool Association for wrongful termination, breach of contract and some other claims related to employment,” explained Alex Paul, Su’s attorney. “My client had been promised, actually for decades, that he would be the next leader of the association.”
“All of that went out the window when he decided to start a competing business,” countered Dale Jefferson, attorney for WKSA.
It is all spelled out in the lawsuit, which was moved from California to the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, and is seeking $50 million in damages.
What has emerged, Paul said, is more than he expected.
“Since we filed the lawsuit, many people have now started coming forward,” he said.
One of those people, Denise Brown, spoke publicly for the first time. She started as a student at the Kook Suk Won school in Magnolia and eventually worked for the Suh Family, she said. A police report that she filed 16 years ago, alleging that Alex Suh sexually assaulted her when she worked as a babysitter, is now part of the lawsuit against WKSA. Magnolia police investigated. When interviewed by police, Suh denied the allegations to investigators. No charges were ever brought.
“I think they provide a safe haven for predatory behavior,” Brown said. “I want him to be held accountable, if not for me, for any other victims who are out there.”
In a declaration, that is also part of the case, Ashley Sanchez, another former student whose father ran a school in Illinois, said Grandmaster In Hyuk Suh, was inappropriate with her 32 years ago when she was around 7 years old.
“No grown man should ever have a little girl kiss him on the lips or anything of those sorts and that’s what he did to me,” Sanchez said.
In response, WKSA, through its attorney Jefferson, said upon receipt of the claims, only earlier this year, they hired an investigator, who concluded that those allegations could not be substantiated.
Sanchez said she eventually told her stepmother and was never left alone with any masters or instructors from the association.
Last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) sounded the alarm about Franklin Joseph Perkins, a former instructor at the Kuk Sool Won school in Alvin. He was arrested on child pornography charges. Perkins has pleaded not guilty. The association said he was suspended after the arrest and that the charges have nothing to do with the now-closed school.
Paul said that even though these alleged incidents happened at different times and places, they are connected to the association and relevant to the lawsuit. He said his client’s termination was also about retaliation for his attempts to address these kinds of reports.
“It creates this climate where, if something is going wrong, it might not be reported,” Paul said.
The defendants’ attorney denies the claims raised in the lawsuit and said the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct and possession of child pornography have nothing to do with the plaintiff’s termination. He called the additional allegations a smear campaign.
“It has no linkage,” said Jefferson. “He has used this as an opportunity to air family dirty laundry so he can try to extort millions of dollars from his parents and half-brother.”
Jefferson said they have counter-sued, saying the plaintiff was fired for “disputes.” According to the suit, he did not follow the rules. He tried to convince school owners to leave the association, and he wrote a book that infringed upon the association’s copyrighted works.
“That’s not somebody who has been wrongfully terminated. That’s someone who has decided to go into business for themselves,” said Jefferson.
Paul, the plaintiff’s attorney, said the claims in the countersuit are baseless and unfounded.
In an earlier order, one judge boiled down the legal battle to “a bitter family dispute between father and son.”
The fight is expected to play out in a Houston courtroom later this year.
