Case Summary How Survivor Pensions Offset Tort Damages: Japan Supreme Court Grand Bench Clarifies Rule (2015) Japan’s Supreme Court (2015) ruled WCAI survivor pensions offset the principal lost‑earnings award, not delay damages, clarifying tort calculations.
Labor & Employment Law Calculating Damages: Japan's Supreme Court Sets Order for Negligence and Workers' Comp Offset (April 11, 1989) Japan's Supreme Court (1989) ruled that damages must be reduced for worker negligence before deducting Workers' Accident Compensation benefits.
Case Summary Supreme Court on Tort Damages vs. Ongoing Pensions: Japan’s 1977 “Non‑Deduction” Rule Explained TL;DR On 25 Oct 1977, Japan’s Supreme Court held that future social‑insurance pensions must not be deducted when calculating lump‑sum tort damages; only benefits actually paid by judgment day are offset. The ruling enlarged plaintiffs’ awards and triggered later legislative tweaks. Table of Contents 1. Factual
Case Summary Workers' Comp vs. Consolation Money: Japan's Supreme Court Separates Financial and Non-Financial Damages (December 1, 1966) Japan’s Supreme Court (1966) held that consolation money for pain and suffering cannot reduce an employer’s statutory workers’ compensation, firmly separating financial and non‑financial damages.
Case Summary 1963 Supreme Court Ruling: Can Japan’s Government Subrogate WCAI Claims After a Worker Settlement? Japan’s 1963 Supreme Court held that a worker’s pre‑benefit settlement prevents the Government from subrogating WCAI claims, clarifying how private waivers affect public insurance rights.
Case Summary Japan Supreme Court Narrows Workers’ Comp for Specially Enrolled Owners (2012) Japan's top court limits workers' comp for specially enrolled owners to on‑site work covered by employee insurance, excluding sales and scouting trips.
Administrative Law Teacher’s Brain Hemorrhage and Work Causation: Japan Supreme Court Rules (1996) Can post‑onset work duties turn a pre‑existing brain hemorrhage into a compensable accident? Japan’s Supreme Court said “yes,” remanding a 1996 teacher case that reshaped causation tests under the Local Public Service Accident Compensation Act.
Case Summary Overwork, Pre-Existing Conditions, and Workers' Comp: Japan's Supreme Court Links Chauffeur's Stroke to Job Burden (July 17, 2000) Japan’s Supreme Court held that 18 months of extreme overtime outweighed mild hypertension, ruling a chauffeur’s 2000 stroke compensable and redefining overwork disease criteria.
Case Summary Japan Supreme Court: Company‑Party Fatality Ruled Work‑Related (2016 Decision) Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that a fatal after‑party car accident was work‑related, clarifying how employer pressure and business‑oriented social events affect workers’ compensation eligibility.
Case Summary Dismissal During Work-Related Injury Leave: Japan's Supreme Court Clarifies Termination Compensation Exception (June 8, 2015) Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that employers may invoke the Labour Standards Act termination‑compensation exception to dismiss workers on prolonged injury leave, even when WCAI benefits, not company payments, are being received.
Case Summary Truck Drivers as “Workers”? Japan Supreme Court Clarifies Employee vs. Contractor (1996 Ruling) Japan’s 1996 Supreme Court ruling explains why an owner‑operator truck driver was deemed an independent contractor, shaping today’s employee–contractor tests under Japanese labor law.
Case Summary Substance Over Form: Japan's Supreme Court Bars Estranged Spouses from Survivor Benefits Japan’s Supreme Court held that estranged spouses in a de facto divorce cannot claim survivor benefits under SERAMA or corporate pension funds, prioritising real dependency over formality.
Case Summary When Does Coverage Begin? Japan's Supreme Court on Retroactive Effect in Social Insurance (1965) TL;DR Japan’s Supreme Court (Y Co. case, 1965) held that employees automatically acquire Health Insurance Act and Employees’ Pension Insurance Act coverage from their first day of work. The administrative “confirmation” merely validates that fact and retroactively relates back, so premiums and benefits both run from the employment
