-- The Bank of Japan and a former head of its Kyoto branch were ordered by the Kyoto District Court on Thursday to pay nearly 7 million yen in compensation to a former female employee over a sexual harassment case in 1997.
Presiding Judge Satoshi Mizukami said the 54-year-old former branch head molested the 31-year-old woman at a night club in a Kyoto hotel in November 1997. He then sent her a number of e-mails over a period of a month, causing her great distress, the judge said. The woman filed the suit in June 1998 seeking 21 million yen in damages.
The judges dealing with the case ruled that the BOJ was responsible for hiring the branch chief. They rejected the plaintiff's request, however, that the central bank post an apology for the incident in its offices.