Family says Honda's pressure to work long hours led to man's suicide
The family of an engineer is suing Honda Development & Manufacturing of America saying "inhumane" working conditions led to the man's 2021 suicide inside a facility in Raymond, Ohio.
The lawsuit states Michael Narazaki, 55, who had worked for Honda for over 30 years, hanged himself in his office after months of grueling hours that his managers refused to address. He was working between 100 and 120 hours a week, according to the suit filed in the Union County Court of Common Pleas.
At the time of his death, he left several notes written on Honda letterhead. One said: "I'm so sorry I couldn't get anything right on this project. Maybe this is the one thing I am getting right," according to the suit.
He wrote that he hoped his death would help ease pressures on his Japanese and American colleagues. "They are drowning!" he wrote.
Honda spokesperson Chris Abbruzzese issued a statement Thursday.
“The loss of any associate is difficult, and we want to express our continued deepest sympathies to the Narazaki family for the loss of our associate Michael Narazaki," Abbruzzese wrote. "As this involves a legal matter, we are not able to comment further.”
Cincinnati law firm Freking, Myers & Reul is representing the family.
“It truly shocks the conscience," lead attorney Austin LiPuma said. "My heart is broken for Michael’s wife, children, and for the community at large that knows how prolific Honda is as an employer. It’s truly shameful.”
The lawsuit states that, in the last few months of his life, Narazaki was continually traveling between Detroit, Japan and Worthington, Ohio, where his family lived. He was working weekends and attending 3 a.m. calls with Japan as part of the company's push to advance their electric vehicles and catch up with the competition.
According to the lawyers representing the Narazaki family, Honda knowingly masked the "outrageous working hours" and that managers ignored serious complaints about "grueling" overtime from people working on the same project as Narazaki.
"The stress, pressure, and exhaustion of Honda’s grueling and inhumane work atmosphere manifested in Michael’s death by suicide," the lawsuit states.
Narazaki was the primary source of income for his family, the lawyers said. His wife, Miki Ushiba, was forced to move their three children across the country following his death so they could be closer to family in Seattle.
The lawsuit states that Japanese companies, including Honda, have created policies to address overworking, which is "commonplace" in Japan, but that Honda did not follow these policies for Narazaki.
"Honda’s Japanese-style work week hours has merely trickled down to its American-based subsidiaries, where overwork death protections have not been formalized by the government," the lawsuit states.
The family is seeking damages for wrongful death, emotional distress and unjust enrichment among other claims. The lawsuit states the project Narazaki was working on is projected to exceed $3 billion in profits.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Family says Honda's pressure to work long hours led to man's suicide
