[Excerpt translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Letter requesting a fair ruling towards a society without maternity due to pregnancy or child care", 12 May 2020

The...Tokyo High Court’s decision on November 28, 2019 to completely overturn the Tokyo District Court’s ruling overlooks a major issue in Japanese workplaces where the mistreatment of workers returning from maternity leave is widespread. The ruling appears to place a stamp of justice on employers’ methods to switch regular employees returning from maternity leave to contract employees and to dismiss them when their contract ends...

Furthermore, the Tokyo High Court ruled that the employee’s recordings at the office constituted a legitimate reason for terminating her and ordered her to pay compensation for damages caused for media coverage of what was said at a press conference where she announced the lawsuit. The court’s decision has significant social impact, suppressing workers’ voices who demand justice.

As such, this case...we ask the Supreme Court to dismiss the Tokyo High Court’s decision to hold arguments by fully understanding the situation of working women, creating a path for society without harassment due to pregnancy and child care.