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Suit alleges NTV cancelled announcer’s work agreement due to past hostess work

Shukan Gendai Nov. 22
Shukan Gendai Nov. 22

TOKYO (TR) – The latest issue of weekly tabloid Shukan Gendai reports that a former beauty pageant contestant is suing Nippon TV for cancelling an employment agreement after the network learned about her past work as a hostess, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 11).

In a trial set to begin at the Tokyo District Court on Friday, Rina Sasazaki, a 22, claims that NTV unjustly cancelled an informal agreement that indicated she was to begin work as an announcer for the network in April of next year, according to an article appearing inside the November 22 edition of the tabloid, which hit newsstands on Monday.

In 2011, Sasazaki represented Toyo Eiwa University in the Miss Contest pageant, an annual event featuring contestants from universities across the nation. She has subsequently served as a model in women’s magazine JJ.

In September of last year, NTV began training Sasazaki and provided her an informal agreement (or naitei), which is typically provided by companies when hiring university graduates.

However, NTV notified Sasazaki on May 28 that the agreement had been cancelled. The month before, the fourth-year student had informed the personnel department of NTV that she was employed part-time between her sophomore and junior year at a hostess club operated by a friend of her mother in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping and entertainment district.

“Your history is not appropriate to work as an announcer, a position that requires a person of integrity,” the head of the personnel department at NTV wrote to her in explaining the termination.

Sasazaki’s lawyer finds fault with NTV’s actions.

“The plaintiff is seeking to validate her right to join Nippon TV next year,” the lawyer told Shukan Gendai.

When reached for comment by the Sankei Shimbun, a representative of NTV said, “With the matter pending in a civil court, our views will be revealed in the trial.”

Rina Sasazaki
Rina Sasazaki via Shukan Gendai