Photo/Illutration The plaintiff speaks at a news conference in Miyazaki on March 12. (Masamitsu Oku)

MIYAZAKI—A former assistant professor at Miyazaki Sangyo-keiei University here is suing the university president and others, claiming that she was told her job would be terminated for marrying a co-worker, who is another professor. 

The woman held a news conference in Miyazaki on March 12.

The plaintiffs in the case are the woman in her 30s who had been an assistant professor in the university’s faculty of law since 2022, and a man in his 40s who had been a professor in the same department.

They filed their lawsuit with the Miyazaki District Court against Oyodo Gakuen, the organization that operates the university, and the head director of the organization who also serves as the president of the university, insisting that their jobs should not have been jeopardized for marrying one another.

According to their lawyers, the couple submitted their marriage registration on July 9, 2024.

Two days later, when the male professor reported their marriage to the president of the university, the president reacted with displeasure and said he would terminate the employment of the woman at the end of March this year.

The couple hastily decided to divorce "on paper" while remaining together, and immediately filed for divorce.

However, the woman still received a notice of employment termination on July 18, 2024. Although the couple objected to the president’s decision, their objection was not accepted.

The university took further disciplinary actions against both members of the couple, claiming that “the two had been in an intimate relationship since the woman was a student at the university” and that “the woman had been hired based on the ‘affair.’”

The woman was transferred from an assistant professor position to administrative staff and the man was demoted from professor to associate professor.

“I was shocked that I would lose my job just for getting married,” the woman said at the news conference. “The disciplinary actions were completely baseless and they were fundamentally wrong. All I did was marrying a co-worker.”

The university issued a statement, saying, “This is not a dispute over employment, but a matter of serious disciplinary violations that disrupted the order and discipline of the university.”

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