Tecmo Issues Statement on Team Ninja Rumors; and Proof They’re Lying?

This past week, Tecmo issued a statement that attempted to clarify the record, specifically regarding the rumor 1UP reported on last weekend that several dozen Team Ninja employees would be leaving the company. According to the statement, no such event has taken place.

The statement read in part: “On June 16, 2008, two employees filed a lawsuit against Tecmo, LTD. with accusations of withholding overtime pay.   Although a lawsuit was filed by the two employees, on April 1, 2008, Tecmo, LTD. did notify all affected employees that they would be appropriately compensated and is currently in the process of resolving the matter.   There are several inaccurate reports stating that all 300 company employees are named in the lawsuit and the company would like to clarify that only two employees are involved in the suit.”

They also deny allegations that Tecmo withheld information from shareholders about Tomonobu Itagaki’s lawsuit, which was filed in May.

Additonally, Kotaku has since reported on the evidence presented by the two employees referenced above, which appears to be fairly damning. The lawsuit claims that workers were paid on an illegal “flexible hours” plan, resulting in over 100 hours of unpaid overtime per month.

One of the two individuals, Hiroaki Ozawa, is an official rep of Tecmo’s labor union, spoke with site IT Media and clarified the lawsuit. He said, “There are only two employees bringing this suit, but our accusations encompass all 300 employees, and if Tecmo doesn’t immediately address the issue and correct the problem, we are ready to start a second and a third class action suit.”

We’ll have more on this as it continues to develop.