The labor ministry said Friday it will not appeal a high court ruling that effectively provided worker compensation to the wife of a Toyota Motor Corp. employee who committed suicide in 1988 as a result of overwork.
"The high court ruled that the death of the Toyota employee should be recognized as a work-related death caused by overwork, after admitting the adequacy of the ministry's standards for such work-related death," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said. "We would like to accept the court's decision."
The Nagoya High Court on July 8 upheld a lower court ruling that repealed a decision by a labor ministry office not to provide worker compensation to the wife of the Toyota employee, saying the suicide was caused by excessive work hours and workload that made the man suffer depression.