Parents of Mazda worker whose job 'pushed him to suicide' win £474,000 in damages

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 12:37 EST, 28 February 2011

The parents of a Japanese car factory worker have won £474,000 in damages after a court ruled their son committed suicide because he was overworked.

The country is notorious for its workaholic culture and has been hit by numerous high profile worker suicides - and some have even died of exhaustion.

A court ruled today that the 25-year-old Mazda employee killed himself because he was depressed from overwork.

Chinese workers assemble Mazda

'Ridiculed in front of colleagues': the worker killed himself while working for Mazda. A production line in the car company's empire is shown above

The court heard how managers openly ridiculed the buyer, who lived in company accommodation, in front of colleagues and accused him of needlessy taking overtime.

They are said to have told him that his claims for overtime should have resulted in improved productivity.

Mazda said after the ruling: 'We feel it is extremely regrettable to have lost a precious employee. We offer our condolences from the bottom of our hearts.'

The worker who killed himself in 2007 has not been identified because of the stigma surrounding suicide in Japan.

Chinese workers assemble Mazda

'Unneccessary overtime': the workers committed suicide because he was depressed over pressure at work, a court ruled.

Mazda  previously paid the family a condolence payment in 2009 after a government inquiry found the death was work related.

The latest damages plus the other payments give the parents the entire £800, 000 they demanded in their lawsuit filed against Mazda in 2008, according to their lawyer.

Deaths caused by overwork are so common in Japan that the nation has created the word 'karoshi' meaning 'exhaustion death', usually caused by a heart attack or stroke. Companies can be held liable in such deaths.

In the fiscal year ending in March 2010, the Japanese government found about 100 karoshi deaths. It also ruled that 63 suicides were caused by overwork.