H12･4･26 at Tokyo District Court

【Judgement】 lawful dismissal

【Company】 Poudfoot Japan

【Category】 ordinary dismissal (low performance)

【Reference】 Rodo Hanrei 789-21

【Position/Salary】 Installation Specialist (IS) / JPY 7.7M

【Summary】

An employee hired as an IS, even without prior experience as a management consultant, is expected to attain an average level of skill and qualifications required of an IS professional within a certain period of time working as an IS professional. If it is determined that the employee has not yet reached this average level, it shall be construed as grounds for dismissal as stipulated in the work rules.  The court finds that the plaintiff falls under this category during 1.5 years since joining the company and it must be said that it was exceedingly difficult to attain them.

The company engaged in negotiations with the plaintiff for a period of three months, offering a different position (with a 10% salary reduction) to continue his employment. The company terminated the plaintiff's employment approximately two months (The defendant requested the plaintiff to come to work, but the plaintiff did not.) after the suspension of negotiations. Taking into account the aforementioned developments, it is not found that the dismissal lacks objectively reasonable grounds and is not considered to be appropriate in general societal terms. Accordingly, the dismissal is not deemed an invalid exercise of right.