“RICOH, an unscrupulous company,” shown in a photo of a victim of “ghetto” in the office

GOTO Seryoji, a Russian-Japanese former employee of Ricoh, committed suicide at the age of 46, leaving a photo of himself showing a sign that says “an unscrupulous company” above the company name displayed on the wall at the gate of the premises. The printing machine manufacturer pressed ahead with a full-scale restructuring plan in 2011, setting a precedent to major electric equipment makers, and forced 1600 employees of 45 years and above to retire prematurely. 152 of them including Goto who refused to resign were assigned to a ghetto-like office where no responsibilities suitable to their expertise or work experiences were given. He killed himself by jumping off a building in November 2012, out of depression he suffered after leaving the company as a result of repeated meetings to force him into unwilling resignation.  In a press conference held in the health, welfare and labor ministry on June 6, Goto's father talked of his anguish that made him speak in public on his son's suicide. “My mind became a complete blank (as he was informed of the death of his son). I don't want anyone else to suffer from the tragedy of my son. I want to know why he was cornered to the point where he took his own life,” he said. FUJIMOTO Takashi, 48, who is struggling in the “ghetto” with a harassing assignment of handling toner wastes expressed his determination to keep on fighting with the company's wrong doings. (M）
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 「悪徳会社RICOH」の写真を遺して～リコー「追い出し部屋」の実態

「悪 徳会社RICOH」の写真 を遺して、後藤世良治さん（リコー社員・ロシア系日本人）は、46歳で自ら命を絶った。2011年リコーは大手電器メーカーに先駆け、大リストラを敢行。 45歳以上の1600名の従業員に対して執拗な退職強要を行い、退職に応じなかった152名は「追い出し部屋」に入れられた。後藤さんは数度にわたる退職 強要面談で サインを迫られ、退職後うつ病となり、2012年11月飛び降り自殺をした。6月6日、この問題で厚労省記者会見が開かれた。父親のAさんは、「頭が真っ 白になった。こんなことを二度としてほしくない。息子がなぜ追いこまれたのか知りたい」と公表した思いを語った。また現在も「追い出し部屋」に入れられ、 嫌が らせのトナー廃棄物の仕事をさせられている藤本隆志さん（48歳）は、「おかしいことはおかしいと言い続けたい」と抵抗の決意を語った。（M）  
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