Can a company discipline an employee for taking absence without leave if that worker could be suffering from mental illness? Just a few weeks ago, on April 27, the Supreme Court ruled against Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd. in a case that posed precisely this question. The verdict illustrates the courts' thinking on a very modern ill of Japanese labor.
Let's take a look at the facts of the case.
The plaintiff began working for Hewlett-Packard Japan in 2000 as a systems engineer. He had no particular problems at work until around 2006, when he says his colleagues began doggedly spreading rumors about him. He became obsessed with the idea that the gossip was continuing, imagining he could hear them talking about him 24/7.