At least one female employees of the company claims to have been groped
Japan government-backed VC fund Cool Japan Fund has been accused by several female employees of a culture that tolerated sexual harassment within the company.
Cool Japan Fund is a major investor in 500 Startups’ Japan chapter. 500 Startups was embroiled in its own sexual harassment scandal last week, which sent shockwaves throughout the global tech ecosystem.
500 Startups co-founder Dave McClure was accused of both sexual harassment and sexual assault, and was forced to resign.
According to a Bloomberg report, about a year ago female employees at Cool Japan were made to participate in a lottery draw during a company social gathering at a karaoke pub.
One of the lottery cards contained a one-on-one wine dinner assignment with an unnamed senior executive of the company.
The female employees initially passed it off as a joke, but then found out that the tasks, which included movie dates and even a request to gift “home-made presents”, were assigned to them when they returned to work.
These tasks were dropped when the women called the company’s sexual harassment hotline, but they say the complaints were not addressed. After months of being ignored, they formed a labour union consisting of both male and female employees from the fund.
The labour union is calling for the resignation of the offending senior executive and a new system to better address sexual harassment claims.
Also Read: Men, this is why women stay silent when sexually harassed
This is not the only sexual harassment complaint lodged against the fund. One female employee of the union said she was sexual harassed by two separate senior executives. One allegedly groped her during dinner, while another forced her to hold hands during a train journey home.
The labour union is scheduled to meet Cool Japan Fund in court on July 24.
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Image Credit: Cool Japan Fund
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