Bullied Man's Suicide Judged A Work-Related Death

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: 'Abusive language caused work-related suicide'
The Tokyo District Court on Monday ruled that the death of a 35-year-old company employee who killed himself as a result of his supervisor's abusive language was work-related, and demanded the government pay compensation to the man's family...According to the wife's attorney, this is the first time a court has ruled harassment by senior staff, such as abusive language and bullying, as being the direct cause of suicide, and recognized such a death as being work-related. According to the ruling, the man worked as a salesman at a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company's Shizuoka branch from 1997. The subsection chief joined the branch in April 2002, and habitually used abusive language toward the man. The language included comments such as: "Your existence is offensive to my eyes. Get out of my sight," "You're a wage-snatcher parasitizing the company," and, "You're a social phobic, aren't you?" In his suicide note, the man detailed the abusive language he received from the subsection chief. "My defects echo around my head, and I now despise myself. The idea of taking my own life occurred to me last month," the note said...A spokesman of the Shizuoka Labor Standards Inspection Office, which denied the man's death was work-related, said, "We'll decide on a response to the ruling after examining it and consulting other connected institutions"...more...