A high-profile split row between a couple who run one of Vietnam’s largest coffee producers has fuelled a debate on gender roles after a judge who presided over their court advised the wife to withdraw her divorce request and let the husband concentrate on running the coffee business.

Dang Le Nguyen Vu, chairman of Trung Nguyen Group, and his wife Le Hoang Diep Thao, who heads the group’s instant coffee brand G7, are taking each other to court to divorce and settle on the division of their disputed properties, worth around VND8,481 billion (US$365.58 million).

Vu, 48, and Thao, 46, co-founded their business in 1996 and together transformed it into one of Vietnam’s coffee giants until disagreements between them led Thao to file for divorce in 2015.

At a court in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, a judge who presided over the couple’s divorce made a controversial move by advising Thao to withdraw her divorce request and let her husband concentrate on running the business.

“I urge you to reconsider this decision,” said Nguyen Van Xuan, the chief justice.

“[I think you should] withdraw your divorce file, hand over the business to your husband, and abstain from its operations so that your husband can continue to realize his business endeavors,” Xuan said.

“[That way], any wealth that he makes [while you two are married] is still considered mutual property between you and him,” the judged added.

“You get to keep your family and your property, and live like a queen,” he continued.

Le Hoang Diep Thao, general director of instant coffee brand G7, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Trung Nguyen Group. Photo: Phuoc Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Although Thao was convinced by the judge’s advice and withdrew her divorce request the same day, Vu didn’t agree to it and wanted to move ahead with the divorce, which as of the time of writing is still not settled.

However, judge Xuan’s comments didn’t go unchecked by Thao’s representing lawyer, who pointed out that such a statement coming from a judge is “inappropriate”.

“How could you tell a businesswoman and mother, who has been barred from running her company for years, to retreat inside the walls of her hosue and take good care of household chores and her husband?” Thao’s lawyer Truong Trong Nghia was quoted by Vietnamese news site Zing as saying at Thursday’s court.

“You can ask the many women who are present at the court today whether your advice is legal and ethical,” he said, suggesting that the judge had violated Vietnam’s Law on Marriage, which recognizes that both partners in a marriage are equal.

The judge’s statement has also fuelled a debate on sexism in the Southeast Asian country, where gender inequality persists in society despite government efforts to eradicate it.

Dang Le Nguyen Vu, chairman of Vietnam’s Trung Nguyen Group. Photo: Phuoc Tuan / Tuoi Tre

According to Bui Quang Nghiem, a Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer, that fact that a judge makes an effort to reconcile a couple on the verge of divorce is acceptable and even encouraged.

However, given the context of the dispute between Vu and Thao, giving such an advice during a court on dividing properties can “lead to misunderstandings”.

The judge has compromised his “integrity, impartiality, and objectivity” by doing so, said Nguyen Kieu Hung, a Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer.

“Members of a board of judges must not make their opinions known to a litigant with the intention of pursuading him or her to listen to their advice,” said Vu Phi Long, a former judge at the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City.

Trung Nguyen Group is involved in the production, processing and distribution of coffee, with thousands of locations across Vietnam.

It is one of the largest and domestic coffee brands within Vietnam, and exports its products to more than 60 countries, including major markets such as G7 countries, the U.S., European Union, United Kingdom, Germany,n China,m Canada, Russia, Japan, Dubai and Singapore.

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