Japan Press Weekly

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2015 November 18 - 24 [LABOR]

Saitama City ordered to pay compensation for employee’s suicide due to ‘power harassment’

The Saitama District Court on November 18 acknowledged that a male Saitama City employee committed suicide due to “power harassment” from his senior employee and ordered the city to pay about 13 million yen in compensation to his parents.

The worker, Maezawa Fuminori, in 2002 started to work as a city employee. In April 2011, he was assigned to a garbage disposal facility called Saitama City Western Environmental Center and began experiencing “power harassment” from a senior worker, such as being yelled at with the use of abusive language. Although he appealed to his supervisor about workplace bullying, he received no response to his appeal. He suffered a relapse of depression and in December 2011 took his own life at the age of 41.

The court pointed out that while recognizing that Maezawa had a mental health problem, the city neglected to take proper measures against “power harassment” and violated its legal duty to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. It also said that “power harassment” by Maezawa’s senior worker caused his suicide.

After the ruling, Maezawa’s father said, “The city should accept its responsibility to act and make efforts to prevent any recurrence.”