Woman dies by suicide after verbal abuse at work, family gets ₹90 crore compensation

A Japanese court recently ruled that a cosmetic company and its president were responsible for the death of a worker and awarded 150 million yen to her family

Updated on: Sep 15, 2025, 08:52:28 IST

By Sanya Jain

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A Japanese court recently ruled that a cosmetic company and its president were responsible for the death of an employee and must now pay 150 million yen ( ₹90 crore approximately) as compensation to her family. The court also decreed that the president must resign from his position.

A Japanese woman died by suicide following an episode of depression linked to workplace harassment (Representational image) (Shutterstock)

The employee, a 25-year-old woman, died by suicide after being verbally abused in the workplace in 2023.

Here’s what happened

In October 2023, Satomi, a woman employee of Tokyo-based cosmetics manufacturer D-UP Corporation died after a long coma following a suicide attempt. Local news outlet NHK reported that Satomi had joined D-UP in April 2021.

In December 2021, she was asked to join a meeting with the company president, Mitsuru Sakai. During the meeting, Satomi was scolded harshly for certain actions – including visiting a client without permission.

Called a ‘stray dog’

During the lengthy meeting, D-UP president Mitsuru Sakai used harsh words against the 25-year-old employee, even going so far as to call her a “stray dog”.

The verbal abuse did not end with the meeting. The following day, Satomi was told that “a weaker dog barks louder.”

After the meeting in December 2021, Satomi developed depression. She was diagnosed with depression in January 2022 and took a leave of absence from work.

Suicide attempt

In August 2022, Satomi attempted to take her own life. The suicide attempt left her unconscious. She died in October 2023.

Months before her death, in July 2023, her parents sued the company and its president, seeking damages. In May 2024, the Mita labor standards inspection office recognised a causal link between the president’s harassment, Satomi’s depression, and her death. This recognition allowed her death to be classified as a work-related accident.

Court’s judgement

The Tokyo District Court said in its ruling on September 9, 2025 that D-UP should admit that harassment from its president led to the employee’s death. The court also said that the president should resign while awarding 150 million yen as compensation to Satomi’s family.

Mitsuru Sakai, the president of D-UP, resigned on Wednesday. In a statement on its website, D-UP apologised to the victim’s family. “We apologize to our former employee who passed away and to her family. We will work to review and improve our internal systems and workplace environment,” it said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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