Osaka court orders local governments to pay $15,000 to overworked teacher

OSAKA — The district court here recently ordered the Osaka Prefectural Government and the Higashiosaka Municipal Government to pay a total of 2.2 million yen (roughly $15,000) in compensation to a junior high school teacher for failing to act against his overwork which led to an adjustment disorder.

A 43-year-old teacher at a Higashiosaka municipal junior high school sought a total of 3.3 million yen ($22,500) in damages from the prefectural and municipal governments for an adjustment disorder he had developed due to long working hours.

Presiding Judge Yoshiki Ogawa of the Osaka District Court found that the school principal violated their duty of care by failing to take steps to reduce the man’s workload, and ordered the local governments to compensate him.

According to the Aug. 9 ruling, the man was head teacher for third-year classes, a career guidance supervisor, an adviser for the baseball club and in charge of science classes, among other duties. He began experiencing insomnia and other symptoms around late September 2021, which made it difficult for him to concentrate at work, and in November that year he was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder. He then took a leave of absence for approximately one year and one month.

The court established that the man’s overtime hours far exceeded the standards for recognizing a work-induced mental illness in public service, noting that he had worked 136 hours of overtime in the month immediately prior to the onset of his illness and 156 hours the month before that. The court also pointed out that his workload had increased in response to the education ministry’s revised curriculum guidelines, as well as in preparation for school trips and parent-teacher conferences.

The man appealed to the principal to reduce teaching hours or remove him from the position of career guidance supervisor, but the principal simply replied, “There is no replacement for you, so please hang in there.” The presiding judge concluded that the principal was aware of the increased workload on the man, but failed to take concrete measures such as reducing his work hours.

At a press conference in Osaka after the ruling, the man said, “Teachers have become accustomed to working in an abnormal manner and that it has become the norm. I hope that this ruling will trigger reforms in the way we work.”

The Higashiosaka Municipal Board of Education commented, “We recognize that long working hours for teachers and staff are a major issue. We will make efforts to organize work and improve efficiency.”

(Japanese original by Ryoko Kijima, Osaka City News Department)