Harassment in Japan

A man who was subjected to "power harassment" at work, causing him to become depressed and quit his job, has filed a lawsuit demanding 69.3 million yen in damages.

The man, a resident of Sapporo in his 40s, filed the lawsuit against industrial chemical firm Kawamura Yakuhin, the company's president, and the firm's parent company, Konishiyasu, in the Sapporo District Court.

In the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, the man said that from about July 2005, the company president, who was on loan from Konishiyasu, began verbally abusing him, saying, "There's something wrong with your brain."

Each time the man made a mistake at work, the company president would make all the other employees surround him and the company president would order them to point out the man's bad points. On one occasion he was reportedly criticized over a period of three hours.

In July 2006, the man was demoted to the position of business section head. His work computer was taken away from him, and he was prohibited from doing regular business work.

The man started to suffer from sleeplessness as a result, and he developed symptoms including shaky hands, prompting him to visit a hospital. He was diagnosed as suffering from depression in March 2007, and resigned from the company in October that year. Original story at Mainichi.

Not going to mention which company as I don't want to burn bridges but I owe much thanks to a boss (who we shall name "Mr Smart") who used to slam his fists on the table and shout/swear at me in front of all my colleagues.
Realizing that there wasn't much else I could do about my situation in that company, I started to do the milk rounds and look for other opportunities which opened up an incredible amount of doors. I met a load of recruiters who I'm still friends with today and still stay in touch with many companies who offered me jobs.

The ironic thing was that Mr Smart was fired for his inability to perform as a manager - just before I handed in my notice.

Thats my "power harassment" story - do you have one to share?