An ex-Konami employee has won her lawsuit against Konami over alleged maternity leave discrimination.
Ex-Konami Digital Entertainment worker Yoko Sekiguchi filed lawsuit against the developer and publisher in 2009, when she claims that Konami demoted her and cut her salary by ¥200,000 ($2,000 at the time) after returning from her 6 months of paid maternity leave.
According to Sekiguchi, Konami blamed her childbearing ‘burden’ for her demotion and pay cut.
“This is discrimination aimed at female employees who chose to take maternity leave,” Sekiguchi said two years ago. “I decided to take legal action because fellow female employees are experiencing the same type of treatment.”
Japanese law allows mothers to take up to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave at a 60 percent salary and up to one year of unpaid maternity leave.
Despite ruling her Sekiguchi’s favor, however, the court has only ordered Tokyo-headquartered game company to pay ¥950,000 ($12,000) in damages, which is a far cry from ¥33 million yen (US$422,000) she was seeking.
[Source: Gamasutra]
