Michael Collison Case: “Fired from Interac after death of infant daughter”
Posted by debito on April 16th, 2009
Hi Blog. Turning the keyboard over to Michael Collison, who tells his tale of an employer, Interac, who apparently would not give him a break even when there was a death in the family. Arudou Debito in Sapporo
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April 13, 2009
Dear Debito,
I have worked for Interac for 3 years 2006 04 to 2009 03. Some bumps along the way but usually not my fault. Anyway, my wife became pregnant with our second child in October 2008, great ! I also got a Letter of Recommendation from Interac praising my teaching work and thanking me December 2008 (attached).
About 3 months later on February the 11th 2009, during the night, my wife had some water leak, which isn’t uncommon. There are lots of fluid leaks during pregnancy. She called the hospital and was told to come for her prebooked appointment as scheduled on February 17th 2009. When she went I kept my phone with me during the lesson at Nakahara Junior High School in Hiratsuka, my main school, hoping everything would be fine. I was interviewing first year kids 1 to 1, there were only 3 kids left to interview and it was 15 minutes before the end of my last lesson of the day (each interview took 2 1/2 mins).
The phone rang !!
I’ve never had a phone call during a lesson before, but for my wife and unborn child I’m going to take the call. I did and my wife was heartbroken and in tears. She told me we had lost the baby.
I told her I was in a lesson and that I would come to her. I hung up the phone, apologised to the student telling him it was very important, and then finished his interview. After that I went to the classroom that the Japanese teacher was in and quickly explained that I had to go to the hospital because of my wife and unborn child. I went to the teachers room and explained everything I knew to a very nice third grade English teacher who translated it all into Japanese for the vice principal. They understood my reason for leaving.
So I ran to catch a bus, then a train, then ran to the hospital.
Once there I found out that the baby was still alive but had no water surrounding it. That’s when the hardest 3 weeks of my life started, (and I’ve had some hard times believe me) the baby survived that long.
The doctors wanted us to abort ASAP, that very day.
So that afternoon and night I was fighting a mental battle against doctors and nurses who were all saying that we should abort ASAP because the baby was doomed.
I went home as late as I could and started researching ‘PPROM’ (Premature Prenatal Rupture of Membranes) which is what this problem is called. I found many many cases in which the infant survived, and techniques to try.
Due to the stress of all this I went to work the next day, as my wife wished, and got the days mixed up, thinking it was Wednesday when it was Thursday, thus turning up an hour later than I should have. I missed 1 lesson but did the lesson in my free time. I also interviewed the 3 students I had missed, when I rushed off to the hospital, again in my free time.
That morning February 18th 2009 at aprox 8:30am, I recieved a call from Interac, a Japanese male from the Yokohama branch, speaking in English, asking why I had left school early the day before. I explained that there had been a medical emergency and that my wife was in the hospital and that we could be losing the baby. He told me that if I have any more medical emergencies to call Interac 1 week before the emergency to let them know in advance. He also said he would take a 1/2 day’s paid holiday because I left early.
Later at aprox 9:30am I recieved another call from Interac, a Japanese female from the Yokohama branch, again speaking in English, asking why I was late for work, again I explained the situation to a 2nd person. Interac took another 1/2 day’s paid holiday for being 1 hour late.
I expected someone I knew, the Hiratsuka trainer Joel Northan from Interac to call me and say ’sorry to hear about your situation, please take some time off’, or at least ’sorry to hear about your situation’. As he would call me often, sometimes just to chat and see how things were going at the schools, but especially if anything unusual had happened. No one ever called back.
The next 3 weeks were traumatic but I still went to work cheerful, had great lessons, and then spent the rest of my time researching medical procedures, at my wife’s bedside and taking care of our 1 year old son.
On Monday the 2nd of March I had to go to Interac Yokohama ( 神奈川県横浜市中区長者町５丁目８５明治安田生命ラジオ日本ビル / 10F, Radio Nihon Building, 5-85, Chojamachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa) at around 4:30 pm for a meeting with Joel Northan (Trainer) and Satoko Aoki (Managing Consultant). It seemed to be for contract renewal.
They told me they would not give me another contract for 2009-10.
I asked them why.
Joel Northan said “Well, you left school early one day last week, and then you were late the day after”.
He then put 4 pieces of paper in front of me and I was told to sign them.
I asked if they understood why I left the school early and was late on the day after, and also if that was the only reason for not giving me a contract.
Joel Northan told me that they had a long list of problems with my work.
I asked him “Like what?” and “Did a school or the BOE complain about something?”
I was told it the schools or BOE had not complained. Then he told me that the Manager (presumably Akihiko Omata) had looked at the phone records and seen that I had made a lot of phone calls to the office, so he decided that it was evidence of lots of problems.
(Many times I had been told by Joel Northan and William Smith another trainer) to call the office much more, and to call over the smallest things to keep them up-to-date with details. I still didn’t like to call over trivial things like a school changing the time of 1 lesson, or schools not filling sheets out correctly).
Satoko Aoki told me that the Manager didn’t have confidence in me anymore and that I have to sign the papers so that they could pay me.
I told them that, as my wife was in the hospital at that very moment, I didn’t want to waste anymore time in the meeting and that I would read the papers at home, sign them and send them back.
Satoko Aoki was quite rude at this point and insisted that I sign them now. She told me that I couldn’t leave the room until I had signed them.
I was feeling quite sickened by their behaviour at this point so I picked up the papers, glanced at them and then put them into my folder and then into my bag.
I told them again that I would sign them at home and send them back.
Satoko Aoki was now rather angry, her face was red, slightly contorted and she was showing signs of shaking.
Satoko Aoki again and again said that I was not allowed to leave the room until I had signed.
After listening to this a few times and realising there was nothing more to discuss I stood up and told them I was leaving with the papers. I bidded them good-day and left. (Note see *** below)
I went straight to the hospital and that night my wife and I informed the doctor that we had decided to stop using the medicine which was preventing the onset of labour. The doctor told us that labour should begin around 48 hours later
I went to work as usual on Tuesday the 3rd.
On the evening of March 3rd, at around 6:30pm, I called Interac and asked to speak to a native English speaker (so as not to be misunderstood). I spoke to William Smith. I told him that I probably couldn’t go to work on the 5th as the baby was expected to die and be delivered that day, and that I would have to identify the body, as required by Japanese law. He told me that it was the first time he had heard about my situation and he sounded genuinely concerned. He told me to take the rest of the week off at least. I was thankful but told him I would go to work tomorrow and take Thursday off (expected birth date).
However at 11pm on the same night of the 3rd, my wife called and told me that labour was starting. So I, took my son to his grandparents and then went to the hospital. The baby died in the early hours of the morning. I called Interac as soon as the office opened to tell them that I couldn’t go to work, and to explain the situation. The baby was delivered at 10:48am, Wednesday the 4th of March.
We got to hold her. A little girl.
We had to arrange the funeral for as soon as possible. We could not book for Saturday and so booked for Friday.
I called Interac again and asked for a native speaker, again to avoid possible misunderstandings. I spoke to Joel Northan and told him I couldn’t go to work on Friday because I was going to the funeral. He told me it was fine and also said to apologise to my wife on his behalf as he didn’t know that she had been in the hospital when he informed me about my contract on March the 2nd.
***
After the funeral I had a chance to look at the papers that Joel Northan and Satoko Aoki tried desperately to get me to sign at that meeting on March the 2nd. Upon checking the 4 papers I found 1 was not for me, it was for Interac staff to fill in, 1 was requesting when I would like my final payment, 1 was requesting the same plus when I would like my penultimate payment.
However 1 paper (attached) stated:
‘THIS NOTICE is hereby made by ___________ (Employee#_____) on this _____ day of _____ , _____, to inform Interac of my resignation for the following reason:’ etc etc
Signature _________________ Date ______________’
So, on top of all the previous, they also tried to get me to sign a paper stating I was resigning without me even knowing it.
Extra notes -
2 months previously I was told that Interac were hoping I would continue my employment with them by Joel Northan.
I found out that Interac had lost the contract with the BOE in Hiratsuka for elementary schools for the 2009-10 year. The trainer involved has left Interac.
No-one ever called to apologise, the trainer and another trainer only apologised when 1 I called to tell them I had to take time off to identify the body, and 2 when I called to tell them about the funeral. Previously, they used to call me up at all hours about the smallest things.
About my teaching -
When I first started at Interac I was given, as my main school, what the BOE and teachers described as the worst school in the city. It probably was. Kids were smoking in the school, climbing out of second floor windows during the lessons and sitting on a 40 cm ledge smoking and talking in groups, sleeping in the class, punching teachers, bullying in the open etc etc.
3 years later the school is one of if not the best schools in the city, judging by the others I taught at. I could ‘reach’ every kid in the school, some for longer than others granted. Now the English level of even the first graders is far better than the 3rd graders from 3 years ago and almost every student in the school enjoys English lessons now. I walked into a bad atmosphere and spent every minute I was there trying to improve it through methods that Interac trainers and managers and many teachers don’t even know exist, like honesty, integrity, confidence, openess, friendliness, actually wanting to teach etc etc.
I’m not going to say I changed everything but I did what I could to improve things. There are some very nice teachers there who I respect, but at the student’s graduation ceremony this year I sat next to other teachers, head teachers, the vice principal etc and was very proud when a high percentage of the kids I’d known since their first year, walked up looking directly at me and bowed before receiving their certificates.
I will also send this to a union and to the Japan Times.
Feel free to contact me if you need anything else or if I have made some mistakes. michael1 AT mopera DOT net
Thank you for reading,
Michael Collison.
ENDS
April 16th, 2009 at 7:00 am
That is some cold shit. They should be ashamed of themselves.
My thoughts go out to you Michael, that’s a heartbreaking story. It might make you lose faith in kindness of man.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Actually this was posted on http://www.gaijinpot.com recently, and was censored due to the fact that Interac advertise on Gaijinpot.
Gaijinpot seems to have a history of deleting negative comments about its advertisers, even when those advertisers are guilty of some pretty shabby treatment of foreign employees.
This case takes the cake.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Well, doesn’t this take the cake. First, Mike, so very sorry to hear of your loss. Surely, even in the twilight zone which is Japanese law, you have a case to sue with the signature documents alone. It would be hard to prove the office encounter took place, but you do have the papers they wanted you to sign. Best of luck with this, especially since you are grieving at the same time.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:40 am
This is what happens all the time at dispatch companies, but this case seems to be much more severe. I can’t believe that somebody would do this to another person. I remember when my father was diagnosed with cancer and I was working for W5 Staff Services, he only had a few months to live at this time. They (staff) told me if I went home during a non-vacation period that my employment would be terminated regardless of the situation. Dispatch companies seems to be becoming more and more heartless when it comes to their employees personal situations. Michael, I hope you find another job soon, hopefully through direct-hire.
April 16th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I have an idea-lets translate it in Japanese and send it to some major Japanese newspapers.
I’d translate it myself, but probably next week, because I’ll be abroad for few days starting tomorrow.
How about that?
Only, I cannot send it to Debito for check,because my mails evidently don’t reach him.If it’s OK without a check…
– Your mails don’t reach me at debito@debito.org? Please try again?
April 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am
My word. My condolences, first of all, for a terribly tragic and sad situation. With respect to the actions of Interac, few words come to mind aside from “disgusting”. I truly hope the union or the labor bureau can be of some assistance to you as the circumstances were obviously extremely unusual (could this possibly be categorized under unfair termination of a contract?). I also hope you can find a job working for someone directly, where you might find some more compassionate employers.
One thing I hope is that word of this horrible situation gets out more extensively and puts some pressure on Interac and the industry as a whole, which, as far as I can tell, seems to thrive on such dubious treatment of its employees.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
If you have no problems with this, I would like to print this and teach it to my students. More and more people have got to know how Japanese employers treat foreign workers in this country.
– Print away.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
This is just about the most disgusting story I have heard about during the eight years I’ve lived in Japan. What a shameful company.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
“He told me that if I have any more medical emergencies to call Interac 1 week before the emergency to let them know in advance.”
He’s either insane, or doesn’t believe your story. I hope you find a way to punnish these people, and move on to a better job. Good luck with it all, I’m sure I speak for all when I say you have our support.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
“He told me that if I have any more medical emergencies to call Interac 1 week before the emergency to let them know in advance.”
This is classic. Notify us in advance of an emergency. Sigh. It’s like, when the big quake hits your town, avoid the quake.
Interac’s contact form:
http://www.interac.co.jp/contact/
April 16th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I have heard and personally seen a lot of terrible instances of
eikaiwa management evil in 10 years here.
This just may be the worst.. it’s beyond words (civil words anyway)
I almost can’t even believe it.
I truly hope (for the sake of their souls, and I’m not even religious)that the Interac peoples’ only response is to no longer give *anyone* a “Letter of Recognition” no mater how deserving,
because such things could and should be used against them in court when they get around to eventually firing the great employee for some BS reason.
Might I add that I’m pretty sure Japanese labor law specifically allows 3 days leave for death of an immediate family member. (Though how does this apply to dispatch workers? Anyone?)
This needs to be in the Japanese news. In the papers. On Japanese TV. Let the taxpayers know how their money is being used in the schools, and what kind of heartless people are controlling it.
I know part of becoming a trainer is signing away part of your soul in exchange for a slight salary bump, a sweet schedule, vacation time, and not having to actually teach (or really work) anymore, but this Joel, if he was forced to take THIS stance, for the sake of his own mental health, I hope he is rewriting his resume and planning to quit the company ASAP.
If he wasn’t forced, well, could he at least tell us if he got a “Letter of Recognition” for toeing the company line and trying to trick the grieving Mr. Collison into resigning?
They’re worth so much. >:[
April 16th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Disgusting! But oh so familiar. Fortunately I have never been put in such a position. Shame on that “so-called” foreign trainer for not standing up for you. I’ve yet to meet a foreigner in Japan in an English teaching position of authority who isn’t full of you know what. They’d sell their granny if it benefited them! They certainly aren’t looking out for their fellow minority that’s for sure.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
After reading this, I’m just getting sick of teaching English here in Japan. How cold!
April 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Well, we are only hearing one side of the story here.
It would interesting if an Interac employee gave their side of it here. No doubt they will be informed of this webpage several times this week. If no response comes then that will speak volumes.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Hi All
Appalled to read the above…….but not surprised as I have a friend that was also treated like garbage by Interac. Best thing we can all do is to spread the word and encourage the growth of companies that value education combined with basic human rights. Something in between JET and Interac would be an ideal mix.
Anyhow, I have mailed chiba1 at interac dot com and wait to see whether any response will be forthcoming.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I have no doubt that Interac make Gaijinpot take down any criticism of them with threats to pull advertising.
Easier to silence people than plead your case.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Dude I had some shiot like that happen to me. Its messed up and I feel for you. I tell you what, it might happen again, but if it does, somebody will get pounded, then hell get his resignation.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Why the hell does anyone actually work for this “company”? I guess the “company” must be full of unsuspecting fresh off the boat young foreigners who don’t know any different. This has just got to be widely publicized.
April 17th, 2009 at 8:26 am
I’m sorry to hear of your great loss and moved by your support for your wife at this time. I beg the question- Although I think you deserve some sort of cash award (dont know the right terminology) for your unfair dismisal- Why the hell would you want to continue working for Interac? Dispatch teaching hurts all us teachers here in the long run. Have you considered directly approaching the school you were working at for a direct contract. It is possible they would hire you.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:42 am
“Satoko Aoki again and again said that I was not allowed to leave the room until I had signed.”
Having read of many people’s experiences here in Japan, it seems like situations such as the above are relatively common. For some reason, some Japanese people seem to think they possess special police powers over foreigners. Do these people treat other Japanese the same way? I would be interested to know.
April 17th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
My condolences on the death of your baby daughter.
I am posting also just to add, for the topic and the group, that I hear it is quite common for people with authority in Japan to pressure and threaten subordinates to sign things.
This is often because in Japan, the written signature or hanko will be proof in itself. Unlike common law systems, where a fact-finder will look beyond the written terms to see if there was a valid exchange (so-called “consideration”), in Japan there is no such notion.
Signed documents can be challenged, but it is often difficult to overcome the presumption that if you signed it, you “agreed”. Duress, undue influence, mistake, fraud can of course be brought in to challenge. But, as any longtime resident here might tell you, there is one hurdle on that test for foreigners, isn’t there?
I believe from personal experience that the threat of not being paid unless one signs something unfavorable is quite common. Also, that employers write their own labor laws, in contravention to what the Japanese people promised the Allied Occupation in 1947 (rule of law).
But this is not a moment for the nastiness of day-to-day.
I hope you find comfort in the small visit of a tiny baby, your young daughter, who struggled long and hard but could not stay with you.
For a reason not knowable to us in this life, she cannot walk
God’s good earth with you through the years.
But she always remains a blessing from God and I am sure is with Him.
April 17th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
I posted this on my blog once I saw it on a forum earlier this month. I have several readers who are considering coming to Japan to teach so hopefully they think twice before going through Interac.
I hate to say this but I wasn’t at all surprised by the fact that this came from the Yokohama branch. A few people I know, myself included, had some rather unpleasant experiences with Aoki.