Widow Settles Suit Against Husband’s Ex-Employer

Two years after Torrance resident Myung-Sub “Mike” Lee took his own life, his widow has reached a settlement of her lawsuit that claimed her Korean-born husband’s suicide was the result of discrimination by his Japanese bosses.

Attorneys for Junko Lee and Nippon Express USA, a worldwide shipping firm, said the two sides have “resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved” the widow’s federal court lawsuit.

The suit, filed last year, accused the company of harassing Lee because of his ethnicity--a charge Nippon Express senior counsel Edward Temple dismissed as “baseless.”

Though the settlement involved an unspecified payment to the widow, it “in no way implies that Nippon Express USA admits any responsibility” for Lee’s death, according to the joint statement.

In his diary, Lee recounted numerous incidents of harassment by his Japanese supervisors, who Lee said complained about his accent and the smell of Korean food, and made disparaging comments about Koreans and Lee’s Japanese-born wife.

His suicide Oct. 29, 2000, at age 39 resonated in Los Angeles, home to the largest number of Koreans outside Asia.

The Committee for Justice for M.S. Lee, representing a number of organizations, demanded a public apology from Nippon Express, reprimands for Lee’s superiors and financial compensation for his death.

There was no mention of a public apology or the settlement sum in the statement, which the attorneys said will be “the only public” comment by either side.

“We are glad that the case has been settled and that Junko is being compensated for her husband’s death, but we are disappointed that there was no public apology to the Korean American community,” said Danny Park, executive director of Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates.

His group organized protests against the company before the lawsuit was filed.

The Rev. Joe Hyun-Seung Yang, chairman of the Lee committee, declined comment, referring to the joint statement.

Before the suicide, Lee was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his supervisors.

When he hanged himself in his Torrance home, he was unemployed and faced mounting legal fees.