Dewi Fujin Ordered to Pay ¥29 Million After Rejecting Settlement
The settlement was supposed to be reached for 6 million yen.
On December 12, 2024, the first-instance ruling in a labor lawsuit filed by two former employees of Madame Dewi’s company was handed down. She was ordered to pay approximately 29 million yen, including interest, to the two former employees.
The verdict was considered a complete defeat for Madame Dewi. Originally, the settlement was supposed to be for 6 million yen. However, after Madame Dewi rejected the settlement proposal, she was ultimately forced to pay the much larger sum of 29 million yen.
The lawsuit stemmed from February 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging. While Madame Dewi was traveling in Indonesia, her employees became concerned that she might return infected with the virus. They decided that for two weeks after her return, they would work from home instead of coming into the office. When this decision was communicated to Madame Dewi, she became enraged and announced the dismissal of all employees. Among them, two employees, A and B, were actually fired.
The following is an excerpt from an email Madame Dewi sent to employee A: “To those who treat me like a pathogen, even though I have a negative test, I felt anger. You are suffering from COVID-phobia. I cannot work with people who hurt my personality, so I believe you won’t be coming to the office anymore. (Long text omitted) You will never meet me again, so don’t worry.”
It seems that being treated as a pathogen after returning from Indonesia deeply wounded Madame Dewi’s pride, leading to the emotional dismissal of the two employees.
About a year later, in March 2022, the two dismissed employees, A and B, filed a labor tribunal against Office Dewi Sukarno (Dewi’s office). A labor tribunal is a judicial system designed to quickly and fairly resolve labor disputes between workers and employers. In August of the same year, a decision was made recognizing a payment obligation of 6 million yen as a settlement fee. However, Madame Dewi appealed this decision, and the case eventually escalated into a full lawsuit.
For more details on the case, you can refer to the Friday Digital article from September 12, 2024.
[Exclusive] “I am not a pathogen or anything else” — Madame Dewi loses lawsuit with former employees who refused to return to the office.
