深刻な人権侵害を無視しないで。Appleはサプライチェーン上の取引先でのセクハラに対応してください。

不要忽视严重的人权侵犯。苹果应解决供应链中合作伙伴的性骚扰问题。

⚫Facts about sexual harassment second harassment that occurred in a company that produces and delivers critical parts for global electronic products.

The supervisor hugs her and pats her on the head.

The company, which should be consulted to make the right decision, assured us that they “do not intend to clarify who is the victim and who is the perpetrator. Then only the victim was transferred.

These are the facts of sexual harassment by a supervisor and second harassment by a company at “ASEC Co. Ltd.”

The company develops, manufactures, and sells adhesives used in the world's most popular electronic components such as PCs and smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo.

We are the General Support Union, a labor union that can be joined by one person.

We are collecting online signatures against ASEC's business partner, Apple, and others to hold ASEC accountable.

 

⚫ The Labor Standards Inspection Office found repeated sexual harassment!

Ms. A, who works for ASEC, was continuously sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor.

The damage included being patted on the head, hugged, threatened with “I could take your job away,” being locked in a conference room for five hours and told to her, “Why not me?” and being hugged for long periods of time and told, “Why are you not embracing?”.

After a detailed investigation, the Sagamihara Labor Standards inspection office found that sexual harassment, including physical contact, was continuously made against Ms. A by her supervisor.

⚫Is the fact of second harassment by the company a violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law?

When Ms. A, who had been the victim of harassment, consulted with the company, the vice president and executive said, “We don't intend to make it clear who is the victim and who is the perpetrator[a] ”, “that sexual harassment and power harassment vary greatly depending on the position of the victim, and that Ms. A should change her way of thinking”, “The situation up to now was the best, but one of the reasons why that was no longer possible is Ms. A's behavior” and so on.

They made vague statements about investigating the fact of sexual harassment and conversely accused Ms. A., who had raised her voice.

Furthermore, while the supervisor who committed the harassment received only a light pay cut, the company ordered Ms. A, the victim of the harassment, to be transferred to a different department.

We suppose that ASEC is attempting to trivialize the fact of harassment, discourage Ms. A's will to accuse her of harassment, and evade responsibility for the damage caused by harassment.

We believe that the actions by ASEC violate the Equal Employment Opportunity Law.

We also believe that they are in violation of the following items that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) requires companies to;

-To promptly and accurately confirm the facts related to the case

-To promptly and properly provide loans for the consideration of the affected workers.

 

⚫Ms. A developed an adjustment disorder and she was forced to take a leave of absence

Ms. A developed an adjustment disorder due to stress and began to experience symptoms such as abdominal pain and hyperventilation, then forcing her to take a leave of absence.

Despite ASEC inappropriate response to the harassment,  the supervisor continued to slander Ms. A, calling her “personality disorder,” “a corpse,” and other slanderous remarks about her while she was on leave.

ASEC responded inappropriately to the harassment, the supervisor slandered Ms. A., saying that she had a “personality disorder” and a “corpse,” even while Ms. A was on leave.

Subsequently, Ms. A's onset of adjustment disorder was recognized as an occupational injury by the Sagamihara Labor Standards inspection office  in October 2023, claiming that it was caused by sexual harassment in the workplace.

However, although ASEC acknowledged some of the sexual harassment, it did not admit to any particularly serious harm and refused to pay any damages.

⚫Social responsibility for Human Rights violations in Apple and Other supply chains

We have decided to launch this signature in order to force Asec to take appropriate action against harassment.

ASEC is a company that develops, manufactures, and sells adhesives used in PCs, smartphones, and electronic devices to Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo.

As stated in the UN Guiding Principles on “Business and Human Rights”, it is common knowledge worldwide that companies have a social responsibility to address human rights violations by their business partners in the supply chain.

We have requested that these four companies provide guidance to Asec, but have yet to receive a response from Apple, Sony, and Lenovo. Samsung responded, “We are not our business partner.” In fact, we are aware that the company does business with Asec through a trading company, and we believe that Samsung has not conducted sufficient investigation.

Therefore, we must say that these four companies are currently tacitly accepting the harassment that is taking place in their supply chains.

We demand that Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo, who profit from the violation of workers' rights at ASEC, take appropriate action regarding the harassment at ASEC.Disciplinary dismissal of the perpetrator's supervisor

⚫Our demands

(1) ASEC should take appropriate actions regarding the following harassment!

・Acknowledge the fact of harassment and secondary harassment

・Dismissal of a supervisor for harassment

・Appropriate disciplinary action against the vice president and executive who committed the second harassment

・Implementation of measures to prevent recurrence of harassment

・Payment of damages to Ms. A for harassment

 

(2) Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo should take appropriate action regarding harassment at Aseq in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights!

・Conduct an investigation into any incidents of harassment that have occurred at ASEC.

・Instruct ASEC to take appropriate action against harassment.

 

⚫ Our future action 

Once the signatures are collected, we will require Apple, Samsung, Sony and Lenovo to take appropriate action regarding any harassment or second harassment that occurred at ASEC.

⚫Suing ASEC and the perpetrator's supervisor

The victim, Ms. A, filed a complaint with the Tokyo District Court against ASEC and her perpetrator ’s supervisor on January 15, 2025

We would like to share such a report with you through this signature.

 

⚫Youtube video is now available!

We have compiled a record of our activities to date in a Youtube video. Please take a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

【Sexual harassment and second harassment at adhesive manufacturer ASEC! What is the reality of blaming the victim and failing to investigate the facts?】

⚫Report on Sexual Harassment at ASEC

 

 

 

 

 

 

・「加害者が守られ被害者が悪者になっている」…後を断たない性犯罪・セクハラの二次被害訴える声（読売新聞・2024年11月）

・セクハラで労災認定　相模原のメーカー勤務の女性　上司に抱きつかれ「仕事取り上げる」脅しも（東京新聞・2024年1月）

・頭なで「評価するのは俺、いいだろ」　上司からセクハラで労災認定（毎日新聞・2024年1月）

・「ただの死骸」「人格障害」 セクハラ二次被害を「お膳立て」する会社にどう対抗できる？（Yahoo!ニュース・2024年1月）

・相模原の企業で女性社員にセクハラ、労基署が労災認定 適応障害を発症（神奈川新聞・2024年1月）