The driver had 49 cents deducted from his paycheck. Now he’s suing his employer for thousands of dollars

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The driver of trains owned by Japanese carrier JR West sued his employer after having been deducted from 56 yen (49 US cents) from his wages. He is now claiming nearly 2.2 million yen ($ 19,500) in compensation for the “mental distress” he was supposed to endure.

According to the Japanese portal Soranews24 on Monday, in June 2020, JR West fined the driver for a one-minute delay, which he allowed for running the train to the Okajama station in the south of the country. The man ran onto the wrong platform by mistake, and the correction of the course led to a one-minute delay.

Initially, his employer deducted 85 yen (75 cents) from his paycheck; argued that during the shutdown due to a mistake “no work was done”. The driver reported the matter to the Okajama Labor Standards Inspectorate. Following the intervention, the employer reduced the fine to 56 yen.

The man disagreed with this penalty, arguing that the delay did not affect the timetables and did not affect the passengers in any way. Sam sued the employer and brought the case to Okajama District Court.

The Japanese rail system is known for its reliability – when the train left the station 20 seconds too early in 2017, the carrier issued an apology statement. (PAP)

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