In a ruling on December 5 in a lawsuit filed by a condominium janitor in his 70s, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed for not following instructions to wear a mask to prevent the new coronavirus, the Osaka District Court ruled that the dismissal was invalid because “the dismissal cannot be considered reasonable under socially accepted norms,” and ordered the company to pay approximately 900,000 yen.
According to his attorney, judicial decisions against dismissals over the wearing of masks are rare.
According to the ruling, the man worked as a janitor at a condominium in Settsu City, Osaka Prefecture, and contracted the new coronavirus last May. The following month, after he returned to work, the company approached him about being reassigned to a cleaner at another condominium where wages were lower, after residents complained that the man was working without wearing a mask. When the man refused, he received a termination notice for not following instructions to wear a mask.
The judge noted that the failure to wear a mask was a violation of employment regulations. On the other hand, the judge ruled that it was an abuse of the right to dismiss because there was only one complaint from residents and there was no evidence that the infection had spread in the condominium.
The man claimed that the reassignment was also illegal because it was intended to force him to resign from his job. The court dismissed the case, saying that the reassignment was necessary for business purposes in order to prevent residents from becoming concerned about infection.
