A Japanese court ruled last month that Kansai Medical University Hospital, in Osaka Prefecture, should pay $1.1-million in compensation to the parents of an intern who had died of overwork.
The case marks the first time a Japanese court has acknowledged that a medical intern’s death was caused by overwork, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
In Japan, where most people work long hours, a word, karoshi, has been coined to describe death by overwork. Only recently have Japanese courts recognized the phenomenon and awarded compensation to survivors, as it did in this case.
“Excessive work led to increased fatigue and stress, aggravating his heart functions,” Judge Michiki Sakamoto wrote in the ruling.
Hirohito Mori, 26, died in 1998 of heart problems after working extremely long hours for three months. He generally started work at 7:30 a.m. and often did not finish until 11:30 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. on weekends. He worked seven days a week and usually had no time to eat meals during working hours.
“The university could have realized that something was unusual if it had paid more attention to his health, but it neglected this duty to consider his safety,” Judge Sakamoto said.
Hiroshi Yamasaki, head of the university hospital’s administrative section, said the institution could not comment until the ruling had been reviewed.
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The chairman of the University of Zimbabwe’s council, the equivalent of a board of trustees, has been implicated in corruption at the institution.
A report of a parliamentary committee on education that has been investigating rampant corruption at the university says the chairman, Gideon Gono, should be held accountable for approving shady deals in which the university lost money. The report, released last month, also alleged that the vice chancellor, Graham Hill, and the deputy vice chancellor, Levi Nyagura, may have misused university funds. The panel recommended a police investigation.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee, Fidelis Mhashu, said the three university officials had violated basic government procedure in awarding contracts.
Mr. Mhashu told The Daily News, a newspaper in Harare, the capital, that when the parliament resumes business after an election break, it would debate the report.
The report said the deputy vice chancellor, who is in charge of the university’s finances, had irresponsibly allowed the signing of a series of high-priced contracts to companies without following the correct procedure. The university’s three senior officials were blamed for awarding overpriced contracts for a campuswide computer network and for construction of a drainage system. The council had previously suspended some lower-ranking officials for corruption.
http://chronicle.com Section: International Page: A41