MonkeyBoy wrote:
> Thanks Gavin and other for your responses.
>
> I was planning to update this thread eventually, once things have been
> finalized, but here's what's happened so far:
>
> Fortunately, the asshole I was working for is not just a weaselly
> snake, he's also as stupid as a rock in the woods.  His accountant
> actually issued me a payslip for the salary owed me (without actually
> depositing the money into my account).  So, that alone pretty much
> prevents any chance he has to (falsely) claim I was not working at the
> time, etc..  In addition, I do indeed have a copy of my contract with
> the company as well as an extremely incriminating email which was sent
> to the employees explaining the the company spent the salary money to
> pay other expenses.  So, in terms of evidence to support my claim, I am
> all set.
>
> The first thing I did, was go to the Tokyo Labor bureau (about a month
> ago), right after this situation started.  I had a feeling they would
> be useless, and indeed they were, basically.  What they did was have me
> send the employer a registered letter demanding the money owed to me
> within one week.  Naturally he did nothing in response to the letter,
> so the next step was that the labor bureau sent him a letter which
> *requested* that he show up at their office a week later to discuss the
> matter.  Of course, he did not do that either.  They then proceeded to
> attempt to contact this slippery bastard at both his company and
> residence and were unable to do that either.
>
> Well, if nothing else, going through that process was at least helpful
> in that it provided me further document evidence of this guy's
> character.
>
> So, the next step was going to file a claim in small claims court.  I
> had to go retrieve a copy of the company's registration certificate and
> then go to the small claims office.  They sent him a registered letter
> which gave him two weeks to contest my claim.  Naturally, the little
> shithead did not respond at all, during that time, which now means that
> he automatically loses the case . . . for whatever that is worth.
>
> Now, he has two weeks to pay up (which includes the salary he
> originally owed me, plus interest, plus filing fees) or they take the
> next step, which I understand is to freeze the company's credit and
> make things otherwise difficult for them to operate.
>
> Time will tell, and I might not get a single yen out of this whole
> deal, but hell at least I went through the whole procedure.  Frankly,
> I'm really disappointed that there are not more effective (and timely!)
> measures in place to address this very serious issue.  I've had some
> time off of work lately and have been freed up to do all this running
> around, but I sure feel bad for anyone who has to try to go through
> these hoops when they are working full time or otherwise incapacitated.
>
> In any case, I'll be sure to update this thread on the outcome.
>
> -MB

In my case, I'd be quite happy just to hear that the bastards suffering
from his actions. You've inspired me to think about re-opening my case;
if I can just find some way to get past the fact that his company
wasn't registered properly, I'd like to see the look on his face when
he starts getting calls again from the courts asking him to pay for
what he did almost a year ago. Good luck.