Photo/Illutration A gay man says he reached a settlement with his former employer over his outing at a news conference in Tokyo on April 6. (Noboru Inoue)

In a rare intervention in Japan, a Tokyo ward office has mediated a settlement between a gay man and his former employer after his boss outed him without his consent.

The man, who is in his 20s, reported the settlement at a news conference in Tokyo on April 6.

He said he revealed that he has a same-sex partner to an insurance agency in the capital’s Toshima Ward when he joined the company in May 2019. He told his new employer he would come out to his colleagues at an appropriate time, if necessary.

But he later learned that his boss had revealed the information to the man’s colleagues without his consent. The man subsequently developed neurosis and was forced to take a leave of absence.

The man said Toshima Ward’s dedicated consultation window served as a mediator when he negotiated a settlement with the employer.

The ward has a bylaw that bans “outing” a person, or disclosing their gender identity or sexual orientation against their will.

The company will admit to outing the man, apologize to him and pay compensation for his pain and mental suffering, according to the settlement reached in October 2020. The amount of compensation was not disclosed.

The man left the company because he found it difficult to continue working there. 

Maki Muraki, head of the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity (Rainbow-colored diversity) that provides support to the LGBT community, said it is still rare in the country for a local government’s consultation desk to mediate a settlement between an outing victim and the perpetrator.

Muraki said it is significant when local governments set up consultation windows for LGBT residents because that gives them one more place to turn to.

The Mie prefectural government and the city government of Kunitachi in Tokyo have also enacted ordinances against outing.

Related News