Komatsu doesn’t just move earth. It erases it.
Beneath the sales brochures and yellow paint is a machine that’s racked up fines, faced lawsuits, and whispered its way out of antitrust allegations. You won’t see that in the product videos. But it’s there – in court records, CSR footnotes, and cheques quietly signed to keep people quiet.
Over $3 Million in Fines – And Still Digging
Komatsu and its subsidiaries have racked up over $3 million in regulatory penalties since 2000. Environmental damage. Labour violations. Safety breaches.
- 2001: $1.5 million fine for environmental violations (Joy Technologies, a Komatsu subsidiary).
- 2007: $1.02 million for labour relations violations.
- Plus another dozen+ minor hits for safety, wage, and pollution lapses.
They call it compliance. We call it a trend.
“No Place for a Woman”
In 2020, Jade Trautner sued Komatsu Mining after reporting sexual harassment, discrimination, and being told her workplace was “no place for a woman.”
The company’s response? Silence.
The case was quietly settled in 2021. No statement. No change. Just a payout, and the expectation it’d go away. Sound familiar?
📎 BHRRC – Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
📎 AMSJ – Case Resolved
Antitrust: The Quiet Cartel
2015: Komatsu, Caterpillar, and Volvo accused of freezing out a rival. The claim? They pressured online auction house IronPlanet to kill a deal that would’ve brought Chinese competition into the U.S. market.
The lawsuit was tossed. But in 2024, Caterpillar paid $100 million in a related case. Komatsu didn’t pay – maybe they didn’t have to. Maybe just standing close to the fire was enough to feel the heat.
📎 Equipment World – Original Suit
📎 Case Dismissal
Environmental Violations – Footnotes and Fingerprints
Komatsu’s 2023 CSR report admits to nine environmental violations in Japan, one more in North America.
All resolved. No fines. Just quiet clean-ups and prettier charts the following quarter. Call it what you like. But when even the admission is buried in a PDF, it’s not transparency—it’s camouflage.
📎 CSR – Environment
📎 CSR – Compliance
Why This Matters to Cummins
Komatsu digs. Cummins powers the digging. That’s not just supply chain – it’s complicity.
If your partners have dirty hands, you don’t get to keep yours clean. And Cummins, already drowning in its own ethical fog, doesn’t need to borrow someone else’s smoke.
That’s why Komatsu makes this edition of Customer Corner. Not just for what they build – but what they bury.
Lee Thompson
Founder – The Cummins Accountability Project
www.tcap.blog