A court in central Japan ordered the government Friday to pay compensation to a woman who argued that her husband died from overwork at Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, officials said.
Hiroko Uchino filed the suit after a local Labor Ministry office rejected applications for worker's compensation benefits she filed after the death of her husband, Kenichi, said Hiroko Tamaki, a lawyer for the plaintiff.
The Labor Ministry office said the case did not qualify as death from overwork, according to the lawyer.
In Friday's ruling, the Nagoya District Court ordered the government to reverse the local office's decision and pay compensation, court official Chie Hara said. Hara refused to give other details.
Death from overwork, known as "karoshi" in Japanese, has steadily increased since the government first recognized it in 1987.
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