＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
A trial began in Paris on May 6, 2019, regarding the spate of 35 employee suicides over a two-year period due to moral harassment by former France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard and other management.
The outcome of the trial is attracting significant attention from the business community, labor unions, and labor experts.
1. Specific Details of Moral Harassment
It is astonishing that 35 suicides occurred in just two years, from 2008 to 2009.
In particular, eight cases appear to be attracting attention, involving “19 employee suicides, 12 suicide attempts, and sick leave due to depression.”
This includes a 51-year-old male engineer who committed suicide, leaving behind a suicide note accusing the company of “terrorist management,” and a 32-year-old female employee who jumped out of a window in front of her colleagues.
The former France Telecom was privatized in 2004, which led to major restructuring and restructuring of its business.
Prosecutors believe that the company and Lombard implemented policies that stirred anxiety among employees in order to encourage voluntary retirement, pushing them to the point of mental stress that forced them to choose suicide.
2. Challenges in Japan
When I was young, terms like “sexual harassment,” “power harassment,” and “moral harassment” didn’t even exist. While not as unreasonable as the prewar “absolute emperor system,” company superiors wielded enormous power over personnel decisions, and it’s no exaggeration to say that a “command and obedience” mentality reigned supreme. Defying superiors could result in low performance evaluations or even demotion.
Recently, amid calls for compliance, many companies appear to be officially declaring their intention to eradicate various forms of harassment.
However, since “official statements” and “true intentions” are different, a thorough understanding of the actual situation is necessary, just as with the issue of “suicide due to bullying” in schools.
3. The Need for Explicit Criminal Penalties
I believe that, like “bullying,” “sexual harassment,” “power harassment,” and “moral harassment” will not disappear easily.
Therefore, I believe that “legislation establishing criminal liability” that allows for fair and strict punishment of those responsible when such incidents occur is urgently needed. I believe that simply recognizing a civil “right to claim damages” is not enough of a deterrent.
Finance Minister Aso aptly stated, “There is no crime called sexual harassment,” but this way of thinking still exists today because there is no legal system in place that defines criminal liability.
Since we live in the “principle of legality,” shouldn’t we enact a special criminal law that clearly defines the elements of “sexual harassment,” “power harassment,” and “moral harassment” that constitute crimes even when they do not fall under the crimes of “assault,” “injury,” “intimidation,” “coercion,” “forcible indecency,” “defamation,” or “insult” as defined in the Penal Code?
Just recently, it was discovered that a male executive in his 50s at Ashiya City Hall had been harassing multiple employees for several years. A city council member asked a question about this at a city council meeting, but the city government simply stated, “We cannot answer questions about individual cases,” and the question was cut short.
This case follows the same pattern as the “bullying problem” at schools, and I feel it inadvertently exposes the defensive mentality of city hall. I believe that unless the officials in question are sued or accused, we will not be able to find a way to resolve the problem. Ultimately, I believe that it is essential to establish laws that punish perpetrators.
In any case, I will be keeping an eye on how this French trial turns out.