Press "Enter" to skip to content

Chiba cops: Clerk of shabu shabu chain held for assaulting worker

Ryoji Tomiyama, a former clerk at a hotpot chain in Chiba Prefecture, was held for assaulting a part-time worker (Nippon News Network)
Ryoji Tomiyama, a former clerk at a hotpot chain in Chiba Prefecture, was held for assaulting a part-time worker (Nippon News Network)

CHIBA (TR) – A former clerk at a hotpot restaurant chain was arrested for beating a male part-time worker, who is suing the franchisee for eight million yen for also forcing him to work for four months without breaks, police said on Monday.

Police charged Ryoji Tomiyama, 53, a former clerk at chain Shabu Shabu Onyasai in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, with assault for kicking the 21-year-old worker’s leg and punching his face in August 2015, Nippon News Network reports (Nov. 28).

Tomiyama has admitted to the charges, quoted by police as saying he beat the worker, a university student, for his “bad work attitude.”

Tomiyama was dispatched to work at the chain at the time under DWE Japan, which was running the chain as a franchisee, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

The student filed a report with police last week, alleging that Tomiyama punched and kicked him over matters like storing cucumbers in the wrong place and replying in a small voice.

The student said the arrest “finally feels like I took one step forward. If my situation is resolved, then maybe it will make it easier for other victims to seek a resolution.”

The student filed a lawsuit against DWE Japan in June for damages totaling some eight million yen for allegedly forcing him to work for four months without a break.

In the lawsuit, the student also alleged that he was verbally abused and assaulted by Tomiyama and his wife, a manager at the chain.