This morning I had a phone call. I'm busy, he said, I just have a few minutes between meetings but I desperately need your help. Well, I was busy too, but I listened. His wife taught at a university, he said. School officials had been wanting her to resign. She is 58 years old. She had, he said, been harassed by school officials and recently was kept in a room for an hour, only allowed out once to go to the bathroom, as they provided all the reasons she should quit. One was that she let her classes out early, but she pointed out that other teachers did too, which is no excuse if your contract prohibits it. His wife is now in a hospital in the States, apparently because of her ordeal. A sure case of harassment, he said. He wants to sue and needs a good labor lawyer.

I told him it would take some time and would he please call back later. I said he shouldn't expect to find a labor lawyer like those readily available in the U.S. and even if he did, it is likely he/she would be reluctant to take such a case for a foreigner. I explained some of the difficulties. That it would be hard to find any lawyer and it would be even more difficult to find associates who would testify to her treatment. If he finds a lawyer, he should think of three to five years before a decision would be reached. Lawyer's fees are costly so he could count on spending several million yen with no assurance that the case would be settled in his favor, and if it were, he should not expect a generous settlement. He could use the family court system but its goal is negotiation, not settlements. He should be bilingual or have a good interpreter. I added that it didn't sound like a valid case if what he told me was the greatest offence -- a one hour meeting. Many people consider themselves lucky if a meeting lasts only one hour. I wondered if he knew the average retirement age in many professions is 55 and that companies have generally been encouraging early retirement. He should realize too that during the time he would be involved in the case, it would always be on his mind, a constant negative influence. Is that how he wanted to spend his time?

He didn't want to listen to that. He said his meeting was starting and he had to go, and would I call him with the information. I said no, that he should call me and that I would be in all day. I spent a considerable amount of time collecting information and even found a woman lawyer who would talk to him though she could not promise to take his case. I also had contact numbers for advisory groups. A lot of time from my own busy day. He never called back.

Later I learned he phoned Weekender's Corky Alexander after he talked to me. It was deadline day for the next issue and several employees were away, a critical time, but Corky listened. Apparently the man thought this was an issue the Weekender would want to take up. To Corky, he was more direct. He had visions of "big bucks" coming his way. Millions, he said, that's what you would get in the States. Corky pointed out that this is not the States and said about the same thing I had -- it would take a lot of time and money for at best limited results. The man interrupted to say that he had to get back to his meeting, but when Corky had anything to call him. Then he said, "I'm really counting on you. You're my last hope." Corky said something like, Wait a minute, I don't know you and I don't have any facts, but the man said, Gotta go, and hung up.

That encounter has spoiled my day, and I regret the time I spent trying to help, so I decided I should at least get a column from it. Perhaps someone else has a harassment case with a stronger foundation and does not know where to go for information. Or perhaps someone is considering a suit but wonders if it would be worthwhile. Actually, there is a lot of easily accessible help available, all of which has been mentioned in previous columns. Among them, Tokyo's best HELP number: (03) 5320-7740; his wife should join JALT, Japan Association for Language Teaching, (03) 3837-1630, and contact a teacher's union; there is a Web site for teachers, www.eltnews.com and more. I guess what he correctly gathered was that neither the Weekender nor this column was likely to take up his complaint as a cause. Perhaps it was the presentation.