Photo/Illutration A unit of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. can be seen from JR Tsukaguchi Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 17. A rookie employee who committed suicide this year and another rookie who killed himself three years ago had worked at the hub. (Hisashi Naito)

Two Mitsubishi Electric Corp. employees in their 20s living in the same company dormitory have committed suicide in the span of three years, and the bereaved family of the latest deceased wants answers from their employer.

The family of the rookie employee who killed himself in August criticized the company for failing to prevent his suicide despite a similar incident three years ago.

The family and its lawyer plan to demand a further explanation from Mitsubishi Electric.

In the first suicide, the 25-year-old employee joined the company in April 2016. He was assigned to work at a communication device production factory in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and was in charge of software development.

In November 2016, he killed himself at a company dormitory. In September 2017, his family filed a lawsuit against the company.

Three years later, another rookie employee in his 20s killed himself in August 2019. The employee lived in the same dormitory as the man who died previously and was assigned to the production technology center located in the same premises of the man’s workplace. He killed himself in a park near the dormitory.

The 25-year-old employee who died three years ago wrote a memo, which his family released when filing the suit in September 2017. The memo said that several bosses and senior colleagues didn’t properly answer his questions and they harshly criticized him in front of other colleagues, among other difficulties.

The memo said: “I was disappointed that bosses who have been working here for five years or 10 years are only blaming me. I feel it is difficult to leave my family. But I chose death as it is much tougher for me to continue working with (the boss) at Mitsubishi Electric, which denies my personality.”

It also noted: “I don’t want Mitsubishi Electric to ever forget about me.”

In the most recent suicide, police sent papers to prosecutors on the employee's supervisor, who is in his 30s, on suspicion of instigating suicide.

The employee left behind a note that alleged bullying by his supervisor, a senior Mitsubishi Electric staff member who was in charge of training him. The note alleges that the superior made remarks to him such as "I will kill you," and "Commit suicide."

“The bereaved family has not received a proper apology and convincing explanation,” a lawyer representing the bereaved family said at a news conference on Dec. 18.

As for the repeated suicides involving young employees, the lawyer said, “We want to receive an explanation under the assumption of legal responsibility.”

A public relations official of Mitsubishi Electric said: “We have worked on preventive measures, but we can’t comment on details as the matter is under investigation.”

In terms of consecutive suicides and labor issues at Mitsubishi Electric, Rikio Kozu, president of Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation), the nation’s largest labor organization, said at a news conference on Dec. 19: “I have heard that corrective measures have been taken. But I have major doubts about them considering how the measures are being applied to employees.”