Japan Press Weekly

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2016 February 17 - 23 [LABOR]

Olympus worker wins settlement in lawsuit over unfair treatment due to whistleblowing

Japan’s leading camera maker, Olympus, in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblowing worker on February 18 in the Tokyo District Court accepted a settlement which includes the company’s promise to stop unfair treatment of the worker.

The worker, Hamada Masaharu, 55, in 2007 informed the company’s department in charge of compliance of the attempt made by his boss to poach an employee from a client firm. After that, he was assigned to another job. In addition, he received an unfairly low job evaluation.

In 2008, he filed a lawsuit, claiming that the company’s transfer order constitutes a case of unfair labor practice. In this lawsuit, the Tokyo High Court acknowledged that Hamada’s boss ordered him to move to a new post in retaliation for his whistleblowing, and nullified the transfer order. The court also ordered Olympus to pay him 2.2 million yen in compensation. This court ruling was finalized in June 2012. However, three months later, Hamada again took his matter to the court as the company still gave him a raw deal.

In the settlement document, the camera maker admitted that it treated Hamada unfairly even after the high court ruling was finalized. It also promised to pay 11 million yen in settlement money and to not conduct this type of unfair labor practice again. Meanwhile, Hamada withdrew the lawsuit. The settlement will be communicated to all Olympus employees in a form of a message from the president.

At a press conference after the conclusion of the court-mediated-settlement, Hamada said, “I hope Olympus will accept this resolution as a first step toward a company fulfilling its responsibility to protect whistleblowers.”