The chairman of a subsidiary of Japanese major oil refiner Eneos Holdings Inc. has been dismissed over sexual harassment, the firm said Wednesday, in the third such incident within the corporate group since 2022.

Shigeru Yasu, chairman of Japan Renewable Energy Corp., was found to have sexually harassed a woman during a social event, the company said.

The latest case comes after Eneos Holdings in December fired its then president Takeshi Saito, who was found to have inappropriately hugged a woman while drunk.

It followed the removal in 2022 of former CEO Tsutomu Sugimori, who was forced to step down after it was reported in a weekly magazine that he sexually harassed and injured a hostess at a bar. The company later admitted "inappropriate" conduct had taken place.

Japan Renewable Energy said it was informed of the misconduct by Yasu in late December after an anonymous report was lodged with its whistle-blowing system.

An internal investigation established Yasu had engaged in sexual harassment, it said.

Eneos Holdings said in a statement it "deeply apologizes" concerning Yasu's dismissal.

==Kyodo

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