Former Fujitsu Ltd. president Kuniaki Nozoe said on 7 April he plans to file a JPY5 billion (USD53.6 million) damages suit against two of the company’s executives, claiming the firm sustained losses to that amount by forcing him to resign his position.
The losses were incurred because negotiations Nozoe had led for the proposed sale of a Fujitsu subsidiary were suspended due to his "resignation," he said in Tokyo.
The move escalates a dispute that started last month, when the former executive at Japan’s biggest computer-services company asked Fujitsu to nullify his September resignation and reinstate him. The public spat reflects a breakdown of corporate governance, said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Okasan Asset Management Co.
"Given what a huge corporation this is, it shakes people’s trust in the company," Ito said. "If Fujitsu can continue to turn in better results, they’ll be able to win back investor trust."
(Source: The Japan Times Online)