Dealing with issues PTSD stemming from my F'd status

[gaijin_ronin]

I spent over 18 years of my life in Japan, but at the end went through something akin to what several long term faculty members had to deal with when certain people decided that they were no longer welcome, only in my case the shit that they pulled on me was far, far worse. I had thought about simply forgetting about it and letting it go but now I know I wont have peace until I get some kind of closure.

I do not wish to get into details here, but am hoping that those with knowledge of the system over there can steer me in the right direction. Basically, what I want to do is make what they did to me a matter of public record so that those responsible will have to endure public scrutiny for their actions. I assume that in order to get any newspaper/periodical/media source to publish my version of events leading to my departure (I didn't get fired, just intimidated into quitting) I will have to get a lawyer and file a case against the school/people responsible. Is there any way around this? I'd prefer not to spend money on legal fees.

Without getting into detail, those responsible for persecuting me are guilty of much that the general public should be made aware of. I feel that the issues go far beyond the mistreatment of one foreign faculty member and that is the reason I cannot and will not let this go.

Any advise appreciated, but either way, I am going after the people responsible in short order.

[kamome]

:frown2:

I spent over 18 years of my life in Japan, but at the end went through something akin to what several long term faculty members had to deal with when certain people decided that they were no longer welcome, only in my case the shit that they pulled on me was far, far worse. I had thought about simply forgetting about it and letting it go but now I know I wont have peace until I get some kind of closure.

I do not wish to get into details here, but am hoping that those with knowledge of the system over there can steer me in the right direction. Basically, what I want to do is make what they did to me a matter of public record so that those responsible will have to endure public scrutiny for their actions. I assume that in order to get any newspaper/periodical/media source to publish my version of events leading to my departure (I didn't get fired, just intimidated into quitting) I will have to get a lawyer and file a case against the school/people responsible. Is there any way around this? I'd prefer not to spend money on legal fees.

Without getting into detail, those responsible for persecuting me are guilty of much that the general public should be made aware of. I feel that the issues go far beyond the mistreatment of one foreign faculty member and that is the reason I cannot and will not let this go.

Any advise appreciated, but either way, I am going after the people responsible in short order.

Can't help you without the details!

[Mulboyne]

What do you mean by making the details "a matter of public record"?

At a simple level, you can write up an account of your troubles in English and Japanese, post it on the web and send links to newspapers, academic bodies, whoever.

Do you instead mean that you would like some kind of resolution or compensation? How recently did all this happen?

Where would you like to be at the end of all this?

[amdg]

Yes, we need more details. If you want to publicise what happened to you as a warning for others and an indictment of your ex-colleagues, then you can post here, on A.Debito’s site and all the other websites you undoubtedly know. If you want to get some ideas about punitive legal action against them or compensation for yourself, post the details and maybe someone can help. If you want ‘closure’ counselling may be a good idea, but you may have to go back to your home country for any decent help in that regard. Finally, if you’re down for a jack move with some good old-fashioned Vince Majestyk style revenge… sorry can’t help you there.

[Visitor K]

this thread is old, but i just noticed it..
i got severely fucked by a school i worked at in tokyo (i gave them THREE MONTHS notice and they told me i was fired with no notice!! and THEN they withheld 2 months of pay!) many japanese people that i talked to said that there was nothing i could do and to just look for a new job..
but, along with some friends, i investigated the labor law (it is fairly strict there in japan) and got in touch with some labor unions who helped me out tremendously. I joined the Freeter Union ( http://freeter-union.org/ ... website only in japanese, but they do have contacts that can speak english) who dealt with the school's lawyers and eventually staged a public rally with banners, flyers and a loudspeaker telling the neighborhood what the school had done (over 50 people in a small tokyo suburb can gain a lot of attention), after the demonstration, the school coughed up my money. The people at the Freeter Union are wonderful people and are dedicated to helping the working poor in japan.. there are other unions in japan, and many of them are inter-related (the demonstration at my school was joined by the yokohama general union and a couple others in the area).
The same day that we held a rally in front of my school, we all went to the headquarters of "Goodwill" in japan (a temporary staffing agency) and held a larger demonstration there. At that time Goodwill was going through some problems, so there was quite a large media turn out and the rally was in several japanese newspapers.
while it may seem difficult to get japanese people passionate about anything, there are people who really want to help the less fortunate.. it was really a great thing to finally meet people who truly care about politics and the state of the world during my three years there (while not unheard of, definitely a rarity in japan).
Hope that helps anybody who needs it, also, the largest foreign workers' union in tokyo is NAMBU: http://www.nambufwc.org/ ... they are also very helpful and compassionate.
sorry to hear about your negative experience with your job, hope this information is helpful to you or someone else put in an unfortunate situation with their employer.

take care,
kyle

[Greji]

Japanese employers and/or contract negotiators can have a very short memory about details that are promised, but not directly written in a work contract.

I had a friend who was a pro ball player in Japan for many years and he learned early on to "record". He would carry a pocket recorder (tape recorder in those days) and record each of his annual contract meetings. As a result, he had a cassett record of all those "promised perks" that were "not necessary" to write into the contract". He was able to "refresh" their memories on a couple of occasions when they "forgot" several of the smaller bonuses he had coming for his annual performance.

Where this is not a catch all, it's not a bad idea, just in case.

[ttjereth]

Japanese employers and/or contract negotiators can have a very short memory about details that are promised, but not directly written in a work contract.

I had a friend who was a pro ball player in Japan for many years and he learned early on to "record". He would carry a pocket recorder (tape recorder in those days) and record each of his annual contract meetings. As a result, he had a cassett record of all those "promised perks" that were "not necessary" to write into the contract". He was able to "refresh" their memories on a couple of occasions when they "forgot" several of the smaller bonuses he had coming for his annual performance.

Where this is not a catch all, it's not a bad idea, just in case.

At the last translation agency I worked for in-house I was hired at the same time as two other employees both Japanese. The company had a standard starting salary that both myself and one of the Japanese recruits refused to accept. I still didn't get anywhere near what I wanted or deserved (IMNSHO) but got them to agree to a larger sum than the standard salary, with the chance for an increase after 6 months of evaluation. The Japanese fellow was also promised about the same deal as me (with comparable salaries).

Come the first paycheck, and my pay was not the rate we agreed upon, but the standard starting salary. I took it directly to the company president (and owner, since he and his wife owned all the stock) as soon as I looked at my pay stub and they fixed it, making excuses about how the modified rate had slipped their minds.

I found out about a month later that the Japanese recruit had the same thing done to him, but never brought it to their attention, and he just kept on receiving a few man a month fewer than he was promised until he quit the company half a year or so later

So far, I've never had a job in Japan where they didn't try to screw me on some aspect of the contract (including when I worked for the government). It might just be my bad luck with the companies/bosses I have worked for, but I always demand everything in writing now.

I even have a collection of contracts from places where they gave me everything in writing, even though some of the aspects (required hours, vacation time, etc.) were blatantly illegal

[Taro Toporific]

...So far, I've never had a job in Japan where they didn't try to screw me on some aspect of the contract (including when I worked for the government). It might just be my bad luck with the companies/bosses I have worked for....

Nope. Not bad luck--Just standard Japanese business practices for dealing with aliens.

[Visitor K]

I had a friend who was a pro ball player in Japan for many years and he learned early on to "record". He would carry a pocket recorder (tape recorder in those days) and record each of his annual contract meetings.

yah, when i was going through all that shit, the school tried to say that i quit and refused to come in, so i recorded a phone conversation where the dumbass manager admitted to telling me not to come in.

oh, a very important thing to remember in a japanese work contract is that the employer can put ANYTHING they want on it, but if something in it goes against the labor laws it is ILLEGAL and japanese law supersedes anything written in the contract. a common one they try to throw in is a fine for breaking the contract, which is illegal (my old school tried to pull this on me, but the union was able to get it out of them).
also, it might depend on the type of visa, but for a foreign worker, a contract is usually only good for a year and any time written on the contract beyond that is invalid.. japanese labor law is actually quite strict and a good source of the laws written up in english is at the tokyo nambu site: http://nambufwc.org/japanese-law/labor-standards-law/

also, to put this all into perspective and in an attempt to remember that shit like this can be pulled by anyone, the owner of the school was an AMERICAN. a big fat fuck who lived in japan for 15 years.. he never admitted to owning the school, but i found out later that he is in fact the real owner.
if anyone knows a fat rich asshole living in nishi-azabu named mark mizu___ (i forget the second kanji of his adopted name) give him a serious beating and let him know that im really enjoying that japanese salary down here in mexico.

nobody should ever work for DES out in nerima, fucking scumbag bastards.