#MeToo: Rakuten President’s Alleged Sexual Harassment and Demotion of Female Employee, face of Golden State Warriors’ corporate hospitality
The Bay Area’s The Mercury News broke the story last Friday of Rakuten USA, Inc’s Americas President, Yasuhisa “Yaz” Iida, allegedly grooming, sexually harassing, and finally, demoting Director of Corporate Hospitality, Jessica Wyman, who spurned his advances across two and a half years.
Wyman vs. Rakuten USA Inc: https://www.slideshare.net/RakFacts/jessica-wyman-vs-yasuhisa-yaz-iida-of-rakuten-usa-sexual-harassment-complaint
Rakuten, is one of the largest Internet companies in the world and the face of the Golden State Warriors, having landed a $60M jersey sponsorship deal, as the Warriors enter Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Rakuten is also the main global sponsor of European football team, FC Barcelona, the Davis Cup, and Spartan Race. The company has been in the news for its $5.5 billion bet to shake up the Telecom industry. Its founder, Hiroshi Mikitani, founded the company in 1997 and is recognized by the Harvard Business School for mandating English proficiency for its employees in Japan.
The suit alleges “unwanted and uninvited touching, hugging and kissing; in appropriate and unwanted suggestive remarks; unsolicited expensive gifts and dinner invitations; loss of job duties and responsibilities for resisting” and details, allegedly, the gradual removal of Jessica Wyman’s duties and unwarranted poor performance reviews when she revealed to Yasuhisa Iida she had a boyfriend named Johnny. (Page 13).
The allegations include inappropriate comments from it “burns” when Yasuhisa “Yaz” Iida pees to eight mentions of “kissing on the cheek” in the court document. In the document and on social media, Yasuhisa “Yaz” Iida appears presently married with wife and children in Japan yet has “doubts about divorcing his wife would continue to live separately and uphold their agreement to date others.” (Page 9).
Expensive gifts such as a bottle of wine to karaokes, dinners, and United MileagePlus Upgrades were presented to Jessica Wyman for her to continue her employment at Rakuten USA, Inc. (Page 5).
“I have so much money just sitting in my accounts doing nothing. I might as well use it to help you.” — Page 10, Jessica Wyman vs. Rakuten USA
Although the case was filed in January 2019 in San Diego, the article from the Mercury News picked up traction as litigation was heading to a jury trial in San Mateo. The entire complaint was found posted in the comments section on SlideShare and also had been archived on UniCourt for months.
This is the first time for Rakuten USA to garner media attention for sexual harassment in a heightened climate of the#MeToo movement and the tech industry’s efforts to curb sexual harassment, but it is not the first time the company has been admonished for its Japanese executives allegedly sexting and harassing American employees. Multiple reports on Glassdoor.com allege sexual harassment but no person had come forth publicly.
As of Friday January 7th, Yasuhisa Iida was still seen at Rakuten’s US headquarters in San Mateo, CA. It is unknown if he is returning before the plaintiff’s trial and litigation, details on his new role back at Rakuten’s headquarters in Japan, or if he is still presently employed at the company. Amit Patel, previous CEO of Ebates, has taken on the role of President of the Americas weeks prior to the news break.
Rakuten’s HR team put out a statement Friday, June 7th at 1:21PM, asking employees not to speak with reporters and to contact its Director of Communications, Shawn Roberts:
“To all Rakuten Americas employees,
You may be aware of a media report of alleged misconduct at Crimson Campus. We cannot share details about a matter which is pending litigation, but please be assured that we take this claim seriously. The matter is being investigated with the aid of an independent third party. We will take action based on the findings of this investigation.”
It is unknown if this case is close to settlement or only beginning to enter a jury and court proceeding.
There have been no public statements from Rakuten, Inc., its subsidiaries, The Golden State Warriors, FC Barcelona, Spartan Race, or any of its US and global partners.
