"「なめてるのか」暴言で適応障害と主張　40代社員がヨギボーを提訴," 24 October 2024

“Unofficial Japanese-to-English translation by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre”

A male employee at Yogibo, a manufacturer and retailer of bean bag sofas in Osaka City, has filed a lawsuit in the Osaka District Court seeking a total of approximately 11.8 million yen in damages from the company, claiming that his adjustment disorder was caused by power harassment from the company's chairman and long working hours...

During business negotiations, the chairman instructed the man to "promise to translate perfectly, word for word, without any mistakes." When the man expressed reluctance because the translation included business jargon, the chairman reprimanded him, saying, "Are you kidding me?" and "Who do you think I am?"

... After returning to Japan, the man was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder, and his overtime work at that time amounted to approximately 162 hours in one month.

When the man filed a complaint with the company, they responded that "no power harassment was confirmed." In response, the man claims that the chairman's power harassment caused him to fall ill, and that the company, which had allowed him to work long hours, violated its duty to take safety precautions...

The company commented, "There is no evidence of power harassment, so we will fight this in court. Regarding long working hours, we have confirmed that fraudulent information was registered, so we are currently examining the work data."