The Supreme Court on Friday upheld lower court rulings in which advertising giant Dentsu Inc. was held responsible for neglecting to act to prevent the 1991 suicide of a 24-year-old employee who showed signs of depression from overwork.
The case, initially a civil court action filed by the parents of Ichiro Oshima, is the first in which the Supreme Court has ruled that a company has a legal responsibility for an employee's suicide caused by depression from overwork.
The top court also ruled that the advertising agency was more responsible for the death than the high court deemed in its previous ruling, and returned the case to the high court to decide on an amount of compensation greater than it had initially rewarded.