AICHI (TR) – Nagoya University suspended a female associate professor despite her being a victim of illicit filming by a student three years ago. She has since filed a lawsuit seeking damages, it was learned on Monday.
According to the Chunichi Shimbun (Mar. 15), the woman, aged in her 40s, has filed a lawsuit against Nagoya University in the Nagoya District Court, seeking 2.2 million yen in damages, claiming the university’s handling of the situation was inappropriate. The university explained that they removed her from teaching for her protection.
On June 26, 2023, the woman noticed she was being secretly filmed — a practice known as tosatsu — from above with a smartphone camera in a university restroom stall. She apprehended a male student and handed him over to university staff.
The university questioned the student that same day but did not report the matter to police immediately. The student later came alone to the woman’s laboratory that same day to apologize.
Afterward, the university did not expel the student, but instead imposed a three-month suspension as a means of discipline. A police investigation was later conducted. The student was subsequently fined for violating the Aichi Prefectural Ordinance on Prevention of Nuisance Acts.
Removed from classes
Meanwhile, the university, without conducting a thorough investigation into the incident, removed the woman from all classes in the 2024 academic year, claiming it was to protect her.
The woman, dissatisfied with this, felt it was a form of secondary victimization by the university and resigned at the end of the academic year.
In December 2025, she filed a lawsuit in the Nagoya District Court, claiming that the university’s inappropriate handling of the situation violated its obligation to provide a safe working environment under the Labor Contract Act.
Nagoya University is contesting the case, seeking a dismissal of the claim. During the trial, the university argued that the woman had agreed to being removed from classes. They also claimed they had handled the situation appropriately by encouraging the student engage in self-restraint and had his parents supervise him.
