A court in Seoul has ordered Korean air to pay US$18,000 to the steward who bore the brunt of an infamous temper tantrum that brought down a top executive and exposed the ills of South Korea's "Chaebol" system of corporate governance.

In 2014, Park Chang-jin tried to serve a bag of nuts to Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho.  She threw a hissy heard 'round the world because the nuts weren't placed in a bowl first.  Ms. Cho ordered the plane to a halt, ordered Mr. Park to drop to his knees and apologize, and then had the flight turned back to the terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport so that Park could be put off.

The case reopened a national debate about family-run corporations known as chaebols.  Prosecutors made an example of Cho Hyun-ah, known as heather in the west, and she was eventually convicted of violating aviation safety, coercion, and abuse of power.  She served five months in prison.  Heather's younger sister Cho Hyun-min, who calls herself Emily Lee, was forced to apologize for whipping a water bottle at a co-worker earlier this year.  The Cho sisters have left the company, but their brother Cho Won-tae, remains president and chief operating officer of Korean Air.

The pay out wasn't as much as Mr. Park has sought, and covers only the damages suffered on the day of Ms. Cho's tantrum.  He also sought compensation for being demoted after blowing the whistle on Cho's behavior - the court didn't agree with that.