Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. reached an out-of-court settlement Monday with two female employees who had sued the firm, alleging it discriminated against women in terms of pay and promotion.
According to the settlement reached at the Osaka High Court, the Osaka-based company agreed to pay the two women a combined 10 million yen and promote them. In July 2000, the Osaka District Court rejected the lawsuit.
Katsumi Nishimura, 55, and Eiko Shirafuji, 53, had maintained that Sumitomo Electric violated the Constitution by refusing to let them switch from a clerical career track to one that paves the way for promotion to managerial posts. They had demanded some 160 million yen, which included the salary difference between them and male employees who had worked at the firm for the same length of time.