Job Discussion Forums

[whoelse24]

Teacher beware. Employment laws that protect you in your home country do not apply in Japan. This post details an unexpected long term consequence of working for a small school in Japan. I worked in Japan as an English teach at a small school in Hiroshima in 2001. The owner tried to extend my contract beyond the deadline. I didn't agree. The owner said agree or find myself a lawyer, and that by coming to work on Monday, she would take that as agreement. I left and never looked back. I decided I had worked abroad long enough, returned to the U.S, worked for a couple of years, decided to go to law school, finished law school and started the bar admittance procedure (as required in the U.S. to practice law). Some states require employment history as far back as ten years, so I had to list my Japan employment. The state bar examiners sent the standard one page form asking if the employer knew of any reason I should not be admitted to the bar. The owner of the school sent about 100 pages of rambling documentation accusing me of everything from tax evasion to getting her to lie on the visa, and general ranting about the poorness of my character. Really. The individuals interviewing me spent hours reviewing the documents, and finally called me in to see what had happened. What should have been a brief interview that is largely a formality turned into a long explanation of the entire Japanese experience. The best part of the interview was when I said I wouldn't have anything to do with her because things never end with her, and that even if we resolved whatever issue she had, three months later, she would start the whole process again (as I had watched her do with three other former teachers) if she had my contact information, and the interviewers looked at me and said "yeah, she sent multiple things to us too." I told them they could expect to receive continuing documenation from her for the next ten years. Fortunately, I had fabulous references from my professors at law school and from other employers and I was admitted to the bar without a problem, and am happily practicing employment law at a large law firm. What she did/still does is illegal in the U.S. If she were located in the U.S., I would sue her to stop this nonsense once and for all. Can you even imagine? An employer who you had worked for less than a year, over five years ago, ranting about nonsense, that in and of itself is self contradictory? Can we say defamation law suit? It would be such an easy win. But it is probably not worth litigating in Japan. The whole situation wouldn't be such a big deal, since it has yet to keep from from getting admitted to practice law, but now, everytime I have to fill out a form asking if someone has filed any complaints against me, I have to list this incident, and explain the entire situation yet again, much to the entertainment of people who have to process such things. Just a warning to potential teachers, that the teaching experiences in Japan can have an impact as far as 10 years into the future, and there isn't much you will be able to do about it.

[fat_chris]

Written like a true lawyer.

Regards,
fat_chris

[southofreality]

But, look at it this way, if it hadn't happened like that, we wouldn't have this interesting post to read.

[fat_chris]

[flyer]

well, I for one want to thank that guy above

probably a good thing to remember and file away

[natsume]

I don't think this is so much about working in Japan, as working for that particularly crazy employer. Similar scenarios may have occured in numerous other countries, and I am sure there are places where this kind of behavior is far more common than Japan.

[flyer]

... of course, it could happen anywhere too (not just Japan)

[Kootvela]

[Vince]

There's a surprising amount of enmity out there. It concerns me that they have so much personal information and so few laws preventing them from misusing it.

[natsume]

It confuses me when someone registers on a forum with seemingly the express purpose of venting about some personal issue, and then disappears after one post.