Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 3 - 9 [LABOR]

School’s order on teachers to stand guard is illegal: court

The Tokyo District Court Tachikawa Branch on October 3 ruled in favor of private high school teachers claiming that a principal’s order to stand guard outside of school for long hours was an unfair labor practice.

The lawsuit was filed by 10 union members of Tsurukawa High School in Tokyo’s Machida City.

The ruling ordered the operator of the school Meisen Gakuen and school principal Momose Kazuo, who is also the president of Meisen Gakuen, to pay a total of 12.27 million yen in compensation to the plaintiffs.

In November 2008, after a student was sexually molested, Principal Momose ordered teachers to take turns standing guard in areas where very few students walk through. They were forced to do so mainly during school hours, on Saturdays when there is no classes, and even on days of heavy rain and severe cold weather.

Union members had to take more turns than non-union members, as many as 31 times a week (1 turn: 50 minutes).

The ruling pointed out that the school order lacks “necessity or rationality” and interferes with teaching responsibilities in addition to causing physical and mental fatigue. It concluded that the order infringes on plaintiffs’ right to organize and their union activities and thus is illegal.

At a press conference, a plaintiff said, “Because of the duty, I could not deal with students who came to ask me questions. This violates their right to study. I expressed emotional distress for being unable to do my job as a teacher.”