This archive report was first published on 12 December 2019.
On December 12, 2019, a Tokyo court made a landmark ruling in a case involving a transgender official who was denied access to the women's bathroom at work.
The court ordered the Japanese government to pay 1.3 million yen (approximately Sh1.2 million) in damages to the official, who had filed a lawsuit in 2015 demanding 16.5 million yen (approximately Sh15.4 million) in damages.
The official, who joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a man and now lives as a woman, had been banned from using the women's bathroom due to concerns that she could harm female staff, according to the government's argument.
However, the presiding judge, Takeshi Ebara, ruled that the ministry's decision was 'extremely lacking in validity' and that a comment by the official's boss suggesting she should revert to a male gender identity 'exceeds the limit allowed by the law.'
The ruling is believed to be Japan's first case involving damages over the work environment for transgender people.
