Foreign trainees win damages suit+

KUMAMOTO, Japan, Jan. 29 Kyodo -
The Kumamoto District Court on Friday ordered an intermediate of foreign
trainees and their training firm in Kumamoto Prefecture to pay four Chinese
interns 4.4 million yen in damages in total as the two made the trainees work
long hours with low wages.

The court also ordered the company, a sewing agent, to pay 12.8 million yen in
unpaid wages to the four.
It is the first ruling that held an intermediate of foreign trainees liable for
their hardships, according to lawyers representing the four interns.
The four female Chinese trainees, aged from 22 to 25, engaged in sewing from
early morning to late evening with only two or three holidays a month after
arriving in Japan in 2006, according to the ruling.
Presiding Judge Ryosuke Takahashi said, ''Intern was merely nominal, and it was
an actual work.''
Recognizing the responsibility of the intermediate, Takahashi said it
''neglected to fully supervise the training firm while submitting insignificant
reports on the training to the immigration authorities.''
==Kyodo
2010-01-29 23:29:52


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