Kanagawa prefecture urgently investigates suicide employee's bereaved family case "causes such as power harassment"

A man who was a staff member of Kanagawa Prefecture committed suicide three years ago, and the bereaved family had filed an action seeking compensation from the prefecture, claiming that the cause was power harassment of his boss. To investigate, an emergency research team of outside experts was set up.

According to a lawyer representing a surviving family, a 37-year-old man who had committed suicide three years ago was a staff member of Kanagawa Prefecture, where overtime worked more than 80 hours per month, which is the so-called overwork death line, and he worked previously. In the "governor's office" that I was doing, I was receiving power harassment such as being thrown by my boss.

Since the bereaved of the man later filed a lawsuit against the prefecture seeking compensation of more than 100 million yen, the prefecture urgently needed information security professionals and lawyers to investigate the actual amount of work at that time. A research team was set up and the first meeting was held on the 24th.

At the outset, Deputy Governor Masanobu Nakajima stated, "I would like you to consider it as a third-party organization and summarize opinions on effective measures to prevent power harassment."

At the meeting, we plan to compile a report by March next year, listening to staff from the same department as the men.

Kumi Yokomizo, a leader of the emergency investigation team, said, "I would like to confirm whether there is any power harassment or overwork and consider measures to prevent recurrence."