Harassment Suit Is Filed Against Toyota May 3, 2006
A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing a high-ranking Toyota executive of sexually harassing her when she worked as his personal assistant.
In a complaint filed in New York, the woman said that Hideaki Otaka, president and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America , made repeated unwanted sexual advances after she began working for him last summer. She said the conduct continued until winter, when she was involuntarily transferred out of the job.
The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said Mr. Otaka, 64, manipulated her travel and work schedules so that they were repeatedly alone together, had her accompany him to social functions, and physically groped her at a Washington hotel and in Central Park.
The woman, Sayaka Kobayashi, said that when she reported the conduct to Toyota officials, they urged her to work it out privately with her married boss.
Ms. Kobayashi, 42, said that as a result of her complaints she was removed from the job and told she could either leave the company, or return to a former position in the planning department.
She is seeking at least $40 million in damages for emotional distress and injury to her reputation, as well as $150 million in punitive damages. Toyota and Mr. Otaka are listed as defendants.
A Toyota North America spokesman, Steven Curtis, declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday but said Toyota had a “zero tolerance policy toward sexual harassment at all levels within the company and takes any allegations of this nature very seriously.”
“Consistent with our policy of not discussing pending litigation,” Mr. Curtis said, “the company will refrain from any further public comment on this matter.”
Mr. Otaka did not return phone messages left at his office in New York, but according to reports, he was moving to Daihatsu Motor, a subsidiary of Toyota in Japan.
Mr. Curtis did not respond to inquiries about Mr. Otaka’s future with the company.
Toyota Motor North America is a subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corporation. It oversees Toyota’s manufacturing and sales operations and 31,500 employees in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- Posted in : Uncategorized, Toyota
- Author : arnold
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