Japan Press Weekly

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2014 September 24 - 30 [LABOR]

High court orders Mitsubishi HI to pay damages to workers

The Hiroshima High Court overturned a lower court ruling on September 24 and ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to pay damages to former employees and their families for causing the workers to suffer from pneumoconiosis.

Four ex-shipyard workers at MHI’s subcontractor had been engaged in cabins' interior finishing work and boiler repairs from 1955 to 2006 in Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. They worked in a cloud of dust, including asbestos, and then developed the lung disease.

In 2008, the four filed a lawsuit with the Yamaguchi District Court, seeking compensation from MHI. In 2011, the district court ruled against the plaintiffs, stating that the dust density at the shipbuilding yard was not high enough to cause that disease. The complainants appealed to the Hiroshima High Court.

The high court ruling noted that it is highly likely that those workers contracted pneumoconiosis due to years of work at the dockyard. Pointing out that MHI failed to implement necessary measures to prevent the disease, which constitutes a breach of their legal responsibility to ensure workers’ safety, the court ordered the shipbuilder to pay the plaintiffs damages totaling about 80 million yen.