SHIZUOKA (TR) – A 50-year-old female section chief at a hospital the prefecture here has been slapped with a pay cut after a string of harassment allegations, including ordering a male subordinate to leave the door open while he was changing clothes, reports TV Asahi (Sep. 22).
The disciplinary action was handed down last week following an investigation into multiple instances of sexual and power harassment at the Shizuoka Prefectural General Hospital.
In one incident, the female boss directed inappropriate comments at a male staff member who was changing his clothes, demanding, “Since you’re a man, leave the door open while you change.”
The same male employee was subjected to further verbal abuse when he lost his balance while trying to lift a heavy object. Observing him stumble, the section chief sneered, “And you call yourself a man.”
Her abusive behavior extended to other colleagues as well. The hospital revealed that the section chief once scolded another staff member so severely that they were reduced to tears, only for her to continue relentlessly berating them afterward through a messaging app.
Last week, the hospital announced that the woman had been penalized with a disciplinary pay reduction over the repeated acts of harassment.
Following the announcement, the Shizuoka Prefectural Hospital Organization issued an apology, stating, “We will strive to create a workplace free of harassment.”
