Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 11 - 17 [LABOR]

Parents sue home appliance chain for their son’s overwork suicide

Parents bereaved by the suicide of their 23-year-old son following his overworking at Japan’s major home electric appliance chain on December 11 filed with the Maebashi District Court Takasaki Branch a suit against the company seeking 120 million yen in damages.

According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, the man in December 2004 started to work at Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. (Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture) as a contract worker. In August 2007, he was given a full-time position and transferred to Niigata Prefecture to open a new shop.

In September, he developed depression and killed himself after working 106 hours of overtime in one month. In July 2011, the Nagaoka Labor Standards Inspection Office recognized his death as work-related.