Working from home in Corona Teacher sues Osaka City for absenteeism and minimum evaluation September 17, 18:46

A teacher at a junior high school in Osaka City, who returned from overseas in March, voluntarily worked from home for about two weeks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but was treated as absent and had the lowest personnel evaluation. He filed a lawsuit against the city of Osaka for compensation.

The complaint was filed by Mikio Matsuda (64), a junior high school teacher at Osaka City.



According to the complaint, Mr. Matsuda returned from Switzerland on March 17th, which he was visiting for the activities of the labor union.



On this day, in response to the rapid spread of infection overseas, a government expert meeting held a press conference and asked returnees from Europe and other countries to wait at home for two weeks, so Mr. Matsuda consulted with the school. It means that he worked from home until the end of March.



However, as a result of discussions with the city board of education, the school was treated as absent from work at home and the personnel evaluation was minimized.



Mr. Matsuda told the board of education in each region in February that he would recommend teachers to work from home if there is a risk of an infectious disease spreading, but it is unreasonable and inflexible. He insists that it is a good response and demands payment of 1.13 million yen such as wages and compensation for the absence.



Mr. Matsuda held a press conference and said, "If I was infected, the order to go to work was clearly wrong. I want you to correct the wrong response through the trial and take proper measures against infectious diseases in the future."



On the other hand, the Osaka City Board of Education has set up a two-week special leave system for teachers who have returned to Japan since March 21, saying, "As of March 17, when Mr. Matsuda returned to Japan, he will be waiting at his home. Was not institutionalized, and although he proposed holiday work and staggered work, he was refused and had to be absent. "