An 'Office Lady' Has Her D In Court

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By Newsweek Editors

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Sexual harassment not only wasn't an issue in Japan, it was a joke. Some bars even gleefully took the Japanese version of the phrase, seku hara, as their name. Reacting to America's turmoil over the Clarence Thomas hearings, the Tokyo press advised Japanese companies with operations in America to be careful-but no one seemed to think it might be a problem in Japan. Last week, though, a court in the city of Fukuoka ruled in favor of a 34-year-old female editor who sued her former employer-a small publishing company-alleging that her male supervisor's sexually suggestive remarks had forced her to resign.

A handful of Japanese plaintiffs have won sexual-harassment suits before, largely because the accused failed to appear in court. This time the firm put up a spirited defense. The woman didn't claim physical harassment, but verbal abuse. When she tried to stop her boss from spreading rumors that she was promiscuous, she alleged, she was advised to quit.

The court ordered the publishing firm and one of its employees to pay $12,500 for violating her rights. The ruling, which shocked the Japanese establishment, was a victory for Japan's fledgling feminist movement - and for "office ladies" everywhere.

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