Toyota suicide case: Toyota apologizes for suicide after overwork, harassment

Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda has apologized to the family, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday. Monetary details of the settlement were not disclosed. Japanese media reports said a lawsuit filed by the worker’s family sought 123 million yen ($1.1 million) in damages.

The wife told reporters that she thought her husband, then 40, would have understood and believed Toyota had an opportunity to change for the better. Toyota promised an investigation to prevent a recurrence of the case and apologized for the family’s pain.

“We are now trying to create a more transparent workplace environment that makes it easier for people to speak up, as well as a management that is free of power harassment, so that every employee can work without fear.” ,

Deaths from overwork and job stress, including suicide, are a common problem in workaholic Japan. Trouble with abusive owners is also attracting attention.

The Nagoya High Court ruled in September that the employee’s death was work-related, noting that he had suffered severe stress at work before committing suicide in 2010. Toyota, based in the city of Toyota, near Nagoya, initially opposed the allegations.

In 2019, Toyota admitted that the suicide of a 28-year-old engineer in 2017 was due to constant ridicule from his boss.

Japanese people are known to be extremely loyal to their companies, often sacrificing their personal well-being and putting in enormous amounts of overtime while taking pride in being part of a company.

The government received 2,835 complaints of overwork, or “karoshi”, deaths in 2020. Compensation was paid in over 800 cases, including suicide.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.