Tecmo's legal woes

Submitted by Tania Da Silva, Articled Student

On June 17, 2008, it was reported that two of Tecmo’s employees, Team Ninja developers Hiroaki Ozawa and Tatsuki Tsunoda, were filing a class action lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, on behalf of themselves and 300 other employees, against the company for 8.3 million Yen in unpaid overtime (approx. $77,000). Tecmo allegedly placed workers in a “flexible hours” work scheme, thus underpaying them for overtime hours for the past four years. Tecmo is denying rumors that up to 300 of its employees are involved and have reportedly stated that only two employees are seeking legal action. They are also denying rumors of mass resignations occurring as a result of the suit. Reports indicate that, according to Tecmo, employees affected by unpaid overtime have been notified that they will be compensated and that the company will resolve the issue.

The news of this class action follows the resignation of Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Team Ninja. Mr. Itagaki has also filed suit against Tecmo. Rumors indicate that he is seeking approximately 1.4 million dollars in damages for unpaid completion bonuses for the development of Dead or Alive 4 for Xbox 360. It has also been reported that a court order was granted to Tecmo prohibiting Mr. Itagaki from directly or indirectly making statements about the company, its products, practices or employees.

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