豊田労基署、自殺のトヨタ社員労災認定　「上司パワハラ原因」

　トヨタ自動車の男性社員＝当時（２８）＝が２０１７年に自殺したのは、上司の暴言などパワーハラスメントが原因だったとして、豊田労働基準監督署が労災認定していたことが１９日、代理人弁護士への取材で分かった。今年９月１１日付。
　代理人の立野嘉英弁護士によると、男性は東京大大学院を修了し１５年４月、同社に入社。車両設計の部署で働いていたが、１６年４～６月、直属の上司から日常的に「バカ、アホ」「死んだ方がいい」などの執拗（しつよう）な暴言、叱責を浴びるようになった。
　男性は同年７月、病院を受診し休職。同１０月に復職したが、所属は変わったのに席は元の上司と同じフロアだった。「（元の上司が）廊下でぶつかるようなしぐさをしてくる」「席を替わりたい」「死んで楽になりたい」などと周囲に漏らすようになり、１７年１０月末、寮の自室で自殺した。
　今年３月、遺族が労災申請し、豊田労基署は上司の嫌がらせやいじめによる適応障害を認定。男性は復職後に通院などをしていないが、労基署は治癒していなかったとして、「自殺に業務起因性が認められる」と判断した。
　労災事件に詳しい立野弁護士は「実態を踏まえた適正な認定で意義が大きい」と話している。
　トヨタ渉外広報部は「再発防止と社員の健康管理に一層努めたい」とのコメントを出した。（2019/11/19-18:55）

Japanese labor authorities have recognized the 2017 suicide of a Toyota Motor Corp. employee as a work-related death after finding that the death was due to verbal abuse and other forms of harassment from his superior, the victim's lawyer said Tuesday.
   The labor standards inspection office of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, ruled on Sept. 11 that the 28-year-old male employee's death resulted from power harassment, according to the lawyer, Yoshihide Tachino.
   According to Tachino, the male employee began working at the Japanese automaker in April 2015 after graduating from the University of Tokyo's graduate school. The employee, who was assigned to a department for designing vehicles, received relentless verbal abuse and scolding such as "stupid idiot" and "you're better off dead" from a direct superior on a daily basis between April and June of 2016.
   The employee took an administrative leave in July that year after visiting a hospital. He returned to the company in October and was assigned to a different department, but his office was located on the same floor as that of the abusive superior.
   The man told others of his predicament, making comments such as "(my old boss) makes gestures as if to crash into me in the hallway," "I want to change seats" and "I want to die and be happy," before committing suicide in his dormitory room at the end of October 2017.