Hokkaido ranch operator in abuse suit admits to paying disabled workers in snacks, juice

From The Mainichi

March 14 2024

SAPPORO – A ranch operator in northern Japan’s Hokkaido admitted in court on March 12 that they had not paid intellectually disabled workers for decades, giving them only “snacks and juice.”

Three mentally disabled men in their 60s, all living in Hokkaido, have filed suit in the Sapporo District Court against the operators of the Endo ranch in Eniwa, Hokkaido, plus the municipal government there for some 94 million yen (about $635,000), alleging decades of abuse and poor working conditions.

In the suit’s third oral arguments on March 12, the 85-year-old wife and the 57-year-old son of Akio Endo, the ranch manager and former city assembly chair who died in February 2020, submitted a written statement specifically describing their position in reply to a court interrogatory. The son wrote, “Fate brought them (the disabled workers) to us, and we lovingly took care of them as they had no place to go. I would like to sincerely reflect on what I need to.”

He also responded on the working environment and pay issues. To a question asking if the ranch ever compensated the plaintiffs for their work, he replied, “We didn’t pay money, but we provided them with snacks and juice.” Being asked how many days a week and how many hours the plaintiffs had worked, he answered, “Seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to around 7 p.m.”

Plaintiffs’ lawyer Satoshi Nakajima commented, “Their response was based on the premise that actions not tolerated for other individuals are justified for people with disabilities. I feel strong resentment.”