[Excerpt translation from Japanese to English provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.]

“Statement”, June 2020

We, the former employees of the film company UPLINK, have decided to file a lawsuit against the firm’s president, Asai Takashi, for power harassment.

Asai would yell at employees in front of other workers and visitors without reason. He would threaten employees, saying, “Why can’t you listen to what the president is telling you?” He would also denigrate his employees by saying,“You are a disease.” When workers would ask for improvements in the workplace, he would attempt to coerce their resignation, saying, “There’s no room for discussion. You can either stay or leave the company.”

Asai’s power harassment has occurred daily over a long period of time. His behavior is clearly inconsistent with Uplink’s policy of “fighting against homogenization in the world.”  

...Even though employees would recognize and point out these workplace abuses, they were dismissed...As a result, we were often forced to remain silent on these issues...

...We were unable to feel secure in an environment where abuses were tolerated, and even going to work led to enormous stress...

...With the start of this lawsuit, we have also established a victim’s group for former UPLINK employees...