H24･1･23 at Tokyo District Court

【Judgement】 invalid dismissal

【Company】 Credit Suisse

【Category】 ordinary dismissal (PIP)

【Reference】 Rodo Hanrei 1047-74

【Position/Salary】D in Equity / JPY22M

【Summary】

 It may be formally acknowledged that there was a cause for dismissal, given the failure to meet the target for one out of four core accounts. However, the evaluation period for that particular account had less than 20 days remaining when PIP was issued, resulting in an insufficient duration and the plaintiff was removed from the account manager without being granted a new opportunity for improvement, in contrast, for the two companies with approximately 50 days remaining in the evaluation period, the targets were being met. In light of this, using the low evaluation of this one account as the reason for the dismissal does not adequately consider the future prospect of improvement and lacks rationality.

It cannot be definitively concluded that the plaintiff's revenue contribution would invariably remain at the lowest level. Therefore, there is doubt as to whether using the plaintiff’s revenue contribution, being as low as the defendant claims, as grounds for termination constitutes a valid reason, given its failure to adequately consider the potential for improvement. Furthermore, the termination is problematic in terms of it being a last resort. Even considering that the plaintiff is a high-earning mid-career hire in a foreign-affiliated company, where a high level of competency is expected, the termination still lacks objective reasonableness.