Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 May 27 - June 2 [LABOR]

Ex-Bloomberg reporter again wins lawsuit over company’s unfair dismissal

A former Japanese news reporter at Bloomberg, a major U.S. news agency specializing in business and financial news, has again won a lawsuit against the company over his unfair dismissal.

In 2010, when the man worked at the Bloomberg Tokyo office as a news reporter, he suffered an abrupt dismissal for the first time on the grounds that he failed to meet the company-set targets. However, the targets imposed on him were unachievable as they included writing an article once per month that can be nominated for the “Best of the Week” award at the head office in NYC.

The man joined a union for individual workers, affiliated with the Japan Federation of Newspapter Workers’ Unions and in March 2011, he sued the company, demanding the withdrawal of his dismissal. The Tokyo District and High courts in October 2012 and in April 2013 respectively issued rulings in support of his demand.

About a month and a half before the high court made its ruling, the company offered him a position as a warehouse worker with a 50% pay cut. After his refusal to accept the offer, the company again gave him a dismissal order by insisting that he disobeyed the company’s transfer order and brought the matter to court.

On May 28, the Tokyo District Court nullified the company’s dismissal order, acknowledging that the former reporter has the freedom to decide whether to accept the company’s offer. The court also ordered the company to pay 1.67 million yen in compensation.

At a press conference after the ruling the man said, “Paying due respect to Japanese law, Bloomberg should assign reporter jobs to me.”


Past related articles:
> High court rules ex-Bloomberg reporter’s dismissal to be invalid [April 25, 2013]
> Ex-Bloomberg reporter wins nullification of his dismissal [ October 6, 2012 ]