Dewi Fujin Ordered to Pay ¥29 Million After Rejecting Settlement

The claims of both parties contradict each other.

The key issue in the lawsuit was whether the dismissal of the two former employees was valid or not. Madame Dewi’s side argued that:

“The two employees clearly agreed to resign after consulting with the office’s representative lawyer over the phone.”

On the other hand, the two employees countered:

“We only stated that we might consider agreeing to a voluntary resignation if Dewi’s office recognized the dismissal as invalid and offered some monetary compensation.”

The court, however, sided with the plaintiffs, A and B, ruling that the dismissal was invalid, meaning that their employment continued. Lawyer Ayao Masaki, the representative of the law firm Your Ace, which specializes in labor issues, commented on the ruling:

“Dewi’s office claimed that the two employees were no longer part of the company and thus stopped paying them. However, the court’s decision orders them to pay the overdue salaries starting from April 2021. A’s monthly salary was 270,000 yen, and B’s was 300,000 yen. Furthermore, if wages are not paid on time, they must be paid with a statutory interest rate of 3%. This means that for each delayed month, the wages must be paid with an additional 3% interest until fully paid. For example, the 270,000 yen due on April 30, 2021, would now have interest added, making it almost 300,000 yen.”

In other words, the court ordered that Dewi’s office pay a total of 570,000 yen per month in wages, along with the accrued interest, from April 2021 onwards. Additionally, the court recognized the employees’ claims for unpaid overtime. As a result, the total amount Dewi’s office had to pay, as of the December 2024 ruling, amounted to approximately 29 million yen. The prolonged court battle meant that the amount owed grew exponentially over time, as the employment relationship was deemed to have continued during the lawsuit.

Furthermore, court documents contained the following details.