Tube drivers in Japan are seeking damages from the Osaka government for the “mental anguish” they suffered after the city reduced their bonuses, allegedly because the men refused to shave off their beards.
Two workers on the western port city’s underground network filed a suit seeking 2.2m yen (£13,500) each for psychological damage and bonus reductions they claim they received after falling foul of grooming requirements the authorities introduced in 2012.
“Growing a beard is an individual freedom, just like choosing clothes or hairstyles,” the suit says, according to the Kyodo News. “The city’s grooming standards violate this freedom, which is guaranteed by the constitution.”
Both men had worn beards for more than a decade when the city introduced new standards of appearance for employees that banned beards and required women to wear makeup at work.
The code – devised by by the then mayor, the rightwing populist Toru Hashimoto – also included a crackdown on tattoos. Hashimoto, a former lawyer, ordered a survey of tattoo ownership among more than 30,000 Osaka city employees after complaints that a welfare officer had intimidated children by showing off his inkwork.
In Japan, tattoos are traditionally associated with membership of a crime syndicate, but they are gaining popularity among younger people as a fashion statement rather than as an indicator of gang membership.
Six workers who refused to take part in the survey – citing their right to privacy – were reprimanded, while Hashimoto suggested that city employees with tattoos should either have them removed or find work in the private sector.
The tube drivers, both in their 50s, claim they received poor marks on their performance evaluations because they refused to shave off their beards, and had their bonuses reduced as a result.
“I have never neglected to groom my beard and never received complaints from passengers about it,” one of the drivers told reporters, according to Kyodo. “I can’t accept being told that I am dishevelled just because I have a beard.”
Hashimoto’s successor as mayor, Hirofumi Yoshimura, reportedly denied the grooming guidelines were excessive, and said they were meant to make passengers’ underground journeys “as pleasant as possible”.
