Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 October 3 - 9 TOP3 [LABOR]

Ex-Bloomberg reporter wins nullification of his dismissal

The Tokyo District Court on October 5 nullified the dismissal of a news reporter by Bloomberg under the guise of falling short of an unfeasible goal.

Many big corporations such as IBM Japan use a new type of tactic to force their workers to achieve distant targets under the guise of improving their job performances and fire those who failed to meet their criteria. The court decision on October 5 draws public attention as the first court ruling which negates a company’s dismissal under such a downsizing tactic.

Japan’s branch of New York based Bloomberg L., P., which provides economy and financial news, in December 2009 applied a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) to a reporter, the plaintiff.

The company imposed on him heavy targets, including writing an article once per month which can be nominated for the “Best of the Week” award by the head office in NY. In April 2010, the company began to force him to accept early retirement because he could not meet the targets.

He joined a union for individual workers, affiliated with the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions, and requested the news agency to negotiate with the union. Bloomberg, however, dismissed him in August 2010 without responding to his request.

At a press conference after the court decision, the plaintiff stressed that he wants to stop Bloomberg’s dismissal using the PIP. His union official said that Bloomberg should give up appealing to a higher court and sit at a negotiation table to enable the plaintiff to return to work.