Ex-school baseball club members to seek damages for being forced to run naked

The Mainichi Shimbun
April 5, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080405p2a00m0na006000c.html

OKAYAMA -- Seven former members of a high school baseball club who were forced by the club's former manager to go running in the nude are preparing to file a damages suit, it has been learned.

The former club members, aged in their teens and 20s, plan to file the lawsuit with the Okayama District Court, demanding a total of 4.5 million yen in compensation from the former manager and high school.

The former manager was handed a suspended prison sentence in March 2007 after being convicted of violent behavior and coercion for hitting club members between June 2005 and August that year, and forcing them to go running in the nude.

"The former manager has been sanctioned socially through the ruling, but the responsibility of the school in the matter has not been made clear," a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs aim to gain recognition of the former manager's illegal activities and the school's responsibility as his employer, and the school's violation of security obligations.

"We still haven't received any apologies from the school or the former manager," a father of one former club member said. "What all of the victims want most is to receive an apology."

(Mainichi Japan) April 5, 2008