TOKYO (TR) – A female employee at JR East has launched a lawsuit against the railway giant, seeking 8.16 million yen in damages after the company allegedly failed to protect her following a workplace voyeurism incident.
In speaking to the site for magazine AERA (Nov. 2), the plaintiff claims that after a male colleague was arrested for secretly filming women in company restrooms, the firm’s mismanagement of the situation forced her into an indefinite leave of absence.
The incident came to light in August 2024, when police investigating a separate voyeurism case seized a smartphone belonging to a male employee. The data revealed that he had been secretly filming women at work for approximately 10 months. The perpetrator was later convicted and received a suspended one-year prison sentence, though he was dismissed from the company.
However, the victim says her ordeal only worsened due to the company’s “callous” response.
Secret filming is common here
According to the lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court this September, the victim alleges that her identity as a target of the voyeurism was leaked to other staff members via her superiors. She further claims that when she requested a transfer to a workplace with a higher ratio of women—and where she would not be required to wear the same uniform she had on during the incident—the company ignored her wishes.
Instead, she says she was offered a position at a site where over 90 percent of the staff were men, requiring a grueling commute, and forcing her to wear the same uniform that had been central to her trauma.
The victim also alleges that when she sought help, management was dismissive. She claims that an industrial physician and other administrators told her, “Secret filming is common here; you should be glad he was caught.”
“They told me it was ‘a common occurrence,'” the victim told the site. “Is that a stance a railway company—which should be responsible for the safety of its passengers and employees—should be proud of?”
Mental health deteriorated
The victim’s mental health deteriorated following the internal handling of the case, leading to a diagnosis of acute stress disorder and, eventually, depressive neurosis. She has been on medical leave since January 2025 and has been granted workers’ compensation.
The lawsuit also highlights the company’s alleged failure to discipline staff who attempted to tamper with evidence—specifically, items belonging to the victim found at the perpetrator’s desk—and notes that the company’s internal compliance department closed her case without ever conducting a personal interview with her.
“Failure in post-incident response”
Legal experts suggest that if the allegations in the lawsuit are true, JR East may have breached its “duty of care to the workplace environment.”
“If the company responded to such a sensitive issue without even listening to the victim, it points to a fundamental failure in their post-incident response and duty to maintain a safe working environment,” said labor attorney Yuta Suzuki.
JR East has declined to comment on the ongoing legal proceedings, stating only that they have not yet received the official court documents.
The victim says she is speaking out not just for herself, but to force the company to confront the reality of sexual victimization. “I want the company to understand just how painful this is,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.”
