While termination for petty theft in the workplace is understandable and expected, the loss of the entirety of one’s desperately needed retirement payout is overkill. However, this situation is the harsh reality a Japanese bus driver faces.
The bus driver was eligible for retirement pay of $84,000 after 29 long years of driving buses in Kyoto, Japan. However, stealing a measly $7 in passengers’ fares — which he repaid — has led to the complete denial of his benefits.
The driver filed a lawsuit against the city but lost. He appealed, and another court ruled in his favor, claiming that withholding the funds was too severe. Japan’s Supreme Court overturned the appeal, ruling that withholding funds is lawful.
Shinichi Hirai, an official at the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau, cited the potential erosion of public trust in the transportation system as additional justification for negating the driver’s decades of service.
Firing the driver would be more than enough to prove that stealing public funds will not be tolerated. The bureau is not Batman; it is not their job to punish wrong-doers with appalling ferocity. Incidents like this set a scary precedent in Japan: The slightest transgressions will result in the most severe outcomes. Not even righting the wrongs committed, like paying back stolen funds, allows for leniency.
Some may argue that withholding retirement funds will set an example that will help deter people from stealing; however, increasingly harsh punishments have proven unsuccessful in deterring crime.
People need to question and examine why the driver felt the need to steal $7 to help ensure incidents like this do not happen again. Asking questions like, “Was this hourly wage or salary keeping up with the cost of living in Kyoto?” do just that.
The driver was clearly in the wrong for stealing the fares but losing $84,000 in retirement funds is unwarranted. He should at least be able to receive a portion of the funds that he has worked for. One offense should not completely redefine his nearly three-decade-long tenure.
