Employer withholds 12,000 times what was taken from them.

You never know how a small lapse in judgment can come back to haunt you exponentially down the road. Stealing a stamp here and there or selling a cow without permission can add up to crimes resulting in life-altering consequences.

And so it was in February 2022 that a bus driver for Kyoto City received a banknote from a passenger for 1,000 yen (US$7), and instead of placing it in the fare collection box where it belonged, he slipped it into the pocket of his uniform. Unfortunately for him, the city’s transportation department happened to be doing a routine dashcam check and spotted him in the act of embezzling the fare.

As a result, he was dismissed and also had his taishokukin (retirement bonus) withheld. This is the money that accrues throughout one’s career with an organization and is paid out in a lump sum when they end employment either by retirement, resignation, or even dismissal unless the employee deems the reason too egregious to pay. In the case of the now 58-year-old former driver, that allowance grew to about 12 million yen ($84,000).

Feeling that was far too severe a punishment for damages roughly equivalent to the price of a super-sized combo at McDonald’s, the former driver took the city to court. However, the Kyoto District Court ruled in 2023 that the city’s decision to pay was lawful.

The man then appealed that decision to the Osaka High Court, who overturned the ruling in 2024, declaring that the man deserved the retirement allowance on the grounds that the amount stolen was small and he had already compensated for it.

▼ Next stop: Supreme Court

Kyoto City then appealed that decision, taking the matter to the Supreme Court. On 17 April, the highest court in the land overturned the ruling again. All five judges unanimously deemed the withholding of the allowance lawful because pocketing public funds was an act of “serious misconduct” that “significantly damaged the public’s trust in the bus business.”

With the matter brought to a close, the former driver is now out his retirement bonus plus around three year’s worth of legal fees which couldn’t have been cheap. Readers of the news online had mixed feelings about the case but largely felt the final decision was in the right.

“He who chases two rabbits catches neither.”
“Don’t the dashcams usually watch the passengers? I wonder if they were tipped off about him.”
“Serves him right.”
“You don’t usually see the district court getting it right and the high court screwing up.”
“He has a lot of nerve demanding bonuses after getting caught stealing.”
“I think this says something about how bus drivers are treated if they have to steal 1,000 yen.”
“Theft is theft. It doesn’t matter how much.”
“Ouch, that must sting.”
“They can’t set a precedent that someone can embezzle and still get a retirement allowance.”
“The [1,000 yen] he took shouldn’t matter because that’s only the amount they know about.”

With what we know, it would be impossible to say whether this was an isolated offense or evidence of more frequent wrongdoing on the job, but whether it’s pocketing money or pouring large coffees into a small cup, it’s important to seriously consider what’s being put on the line.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun, Itai News
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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