The family of a 16-year-old teen fatally crushed in a 2006 elevator accident settled its civil lawsuit with Schindler Elevator K.K. and other parties at the Tokyo District Court on Friday.
According to a lawyer for the family of Hirosuke Ichikawa, both sides agreed that Schindler Elevator and the other defendants will express regret over the accident and take steps to prevent similar accidents.
The settlement does not include words of apology, the lawyer said. While the amount the defendants will pay the family was not disclosed, part of the money will be used to set up a foundation that will finance the family’s activities regarding elevator safety.
The other defendants are maintenance firm SEC Elevator and Tokyo’s Minato Ward, which owns the apartment building where the accident occurred.
In the June 2006 accident, the elevator car suddenly ascended when the teen was about to get off, fatally crushing him between the floor and the door frame.
The family sued for ¥250 million at the Tokyo court in December 2008, claiming Schindler Elevator, the Japanese unit of Switzerland’s Schindler group, was responsible under the product liability law.
“The settlement doesn’t mean an end to my son’s case,” the victim’s mother, Masako Ichikawa, said at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. “I want my son’s life to be utilized to ensure the safety of elevators.”
Schindler Elevator said in a statement that the company decided to accept the settlement from a humanitarian perspective.
In a criminal trial on the accident, Tokyo District Court in September 2015 found SEC Elevator’s chairman and two others guilty while ruling that a former official of Schindler Elevator was not guilty.
Public prosecutors have appealed the acquittal of the former Schindler Elevator official. The three people declared guilty also filed an appeal. The case is underway in the Tokyo High Court.
