A Frenchwoman who was dismissed from Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) for fleeing Japan during the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March 2011 has won 5.14 million yen ($41,680) in compensation from the public broadcaster.
A Frenchwoman who was dismissed from Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) for fleeing Japan during the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March 2011 has won 5.14 million yen ($41,680) in compensation from the public broadcaster.
The Tokyo District Court on Nov. 16 said NHK acted irrationally when it nullified its contract with Emmanuelle Bodin, who had worked at the broadcaster as an announcer and translator for its overseas radio programs since 1990.
Presiding Judge Toru Yoshida said the public broadcaster went overboard in its expectations of loyalty from its workers.
“The plaintiff’s decision to place priority on her safety and thus evacuate could not strongly be blamed,” Yoshida said.
Following the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, Bodin fled Japan on March 15 in line with an evacuation instruction issued by the French government.
A week later, NHK terminated Bodin’s contract, saying she had “caused a disturbance for its reporting by abandoning her professional responsibility immediately before the broadcasting schedule.”
However, the ruling noted that before her departure, Bodin had arranged for a colleague to cover her shifts.
“Those who fulfilled their professional responsibility amid insecurity and anxiety should deserve much admiration, but it is impossible for an employer to require such excessive allegiance from its workers,” the judge said.
The plaintiff had demanded 15.7 million yen in compensation.
In a statement released on Nov. 16, NHK said it will read the ruling thoroughly before deciding how to respond.