Japan Times:Whistle-blower's just desserts?
The Toyama District Court ordered major trucking firm Tonami Transportation Co. to pay some 13.6 million yen in damages Wednesday to a whistle-blower for giving him the cold shoulder for 30 years...Kushioka had been demanding an apology and some 54 million yen in damages from his employer...Kushioka argued that Tonami ordered him to do menial tasks and denied him promotions after he had recommended to senior executives in 1973 that the company not be involved in illegal cartels. After they ignored him, he provided information to newspaper reporters and the Fair Trade Commission, leading Tonami to transfer him to a room by himself from October 1975. He stayed there until June 1992, when he was shifted to another post, according to the lawsuit.