Tecmo faces another lawsuit

Tecmo’s troubles seem far from over – it’s now being sued by the company’s labour union to the tune of $77,000.

Earlier this month previous Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki announced his resignation from the company, simultaneously revealing that he had started legal action against his former employers due to unpaid bonuses and unfair treatment.

According to Kotaku the new suit, which was filed by ‘Tecmo Labour Union’ representative Hiroaki Ozawa and represents all 300 of Tecmo’s employees, claims that the company instigated an illegal flexi-time system in 2004 that caused overtime not to paid, at times amounting more than 100 hours per month. It also claims that Tecmo created false documents and covered up accounting information.

Speaking to Famitsu about the new lawsuit, a Tecmo representative said: "At Tecmo, we continue to adapt our systems to match the current climate of today’s companies while consulting with an external specialist to ensure compliance with labour laws. At this moment in time we are considering how we should respond to this suit as we were not informed beforehand.

"However, while Tecmo did employ a flexi-time system for development staff between June 2004 and May 2008, we switched to a standard work system from June this year in order to provide healthcare. As of April this year, we entered a new financial year, and informed staff that we would investigate and pay unpaid wages. We are currently calculating those unpaid wages."