Fukushima prefecture golf course trainee commits suicide, parents file suit against management company, etc.

A 19-year-old man who was working at a golf course in Fukushima Prefecture as a trainee aiming to become a professional golfer committed suicide because of power harassment from the manager and seniors at the time.On the 21st, the man's parents filed a lawsuit with the Fukushima District Court's Iwaki Branch, demanding approximately 100 million yen in damages from the golf course's management company and the manager at the time.

According to the complaint, the man joined Tanagura Kaihatsu, which operates the golf club Tanagura Inaka Club (Tanagura Town, Fukushima Prefecture), in 2021 after graduating from high school. While living and working in a dormitory on the premises, he worked as a ``trainee'' after work to practice for the protest test.

A few months after joining the company, the managers at the time began to scold him for his mistakes and use of language, and even ignored him. He was told, "You're an idiot," and "Go home. You don't have to come to work," and was sometimes grabbed by the waist.

The man committed suicide on a golf course in June 2022. In March 2015, the Shirakawa Labor Standards Inspection Office (Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture) recognized the man's suicide as an industrial accident. The Labor Standards Office pointed out that he was scolded for more than an hour by managers at the time once or twice a week from around September 2021, and the number increased to two to three times a week from April to June 2022, just before his death.

In their lawsuit, the parents claim that their former bosses, who relentlessly scolded the man, could have foreseen that the man might take his own life, and that they breached their duty to take care not to jeopardize the man's health. The lawsuit claims that the company is liable for compensation for the man's death.

At a press conference held in response to the lawsuit, attorney Teruyuki Ikoshi, who represents his parents, said, ``For someone who had dreams of becoming a professional golfer, it was an environment in which it was difficult for him to imagine quitting because he didn't like it.The filing of this lawsuit is an issue that concerns the development of athletes as a profession as a whole.'' Tanagura Kaihatsu responded, ``We will refrain from commenting.''