Tokyo, Japan/CMEDIA: A Japanese bus driver reportedly with 29 years of service lost his retirement package worth US$84,000 after being fired for stealing $7 from passengers’ fares.
After being filmed by the security camera of his bus pilfering 1,000 yen (US$7) in 2022 the man, who was not named, was sacked by the Kyoto City.
After being denied his retirement money of more than 12 million yen (US$84,000), the driver sued the city but lost the case.
Although a court ruling overturned the verdict in his favour, and added that the punishment was excessive, final ruling delivered Thursday, the Supreme Court reinstated the original penalty in the city’s favour.
The supreme Court added that the man’s conduct could both undermine public trust in the system as well as the sound operation of the bus service.
According to the ruling, a group of five passengers In the original incident entered the bus and paid him 1,150 yen.
The group was then instructed by the driver to drop 150 yen worth of coins into a fare collection box, and accepted a 1,000-yen bill by hand and didn’t report it properly.
Despite being caught on camera, he tried to deny it during a meeting with his superior.
He had been reprimanded several times during his career over various incidents including repeatedly smoking an electronic cigarette while on duty, albeit when there were no passengers on board.
“Each one of the bus drivers works alone and handles public money. We took it very seriously that embezzlement related to this area of our work took place,” Shinichi Hirai, an official at Kyoto’s public transport bureau, told AFP.
“If our strict measures were not accepted, then our organisation could become careless and it could result in eroding the public’s trust,” he said.
