TOKYO: A Japanese bus driver with 29 years of service lost his retirement package worth US$ 84,000 after being fired for stealing US$ 7 from passengers ‘ fares.
Kyoto City sacked the man, who was not named, after he was filmed by the security camera of his bus pilfering 1,000 yen ( RM30 or US$ 7 ) in 2022.
After he was denied his retirement money of more than 12mil yen ( RM371,058 or US$ 84,000 ), the driver sued the city but lost the case.
The conviction was overturned in his behalf, with a court decision that the consequence was overwhelming.
But on Thursday the Supreme Court delivered a ultimate decision in the state’s favour, reinstating the original sentence.
It ruled that the man’s do could undermine people confidence in the program and the good functioning of the bus company.
In the original incident a group of five passengers entered the bus and paid him 1,150 yen ( RM35 ), according to the ruling.
The driver instructed the group to drop 150 yen ( RM4. 60 ) worth of cash into a fare collection field, and accepted a 1,000-yen expenses by side and didn’t record it properly.
Despite being caught on camera, he tried to deny it during a conference with his better.
The vehicle had been reprimanded many times during his career over several incidents, according to the decision.
This included frequently smoking an electronic cigarette while on responsibility, albeit when there were no passengers on board.
Kyoto City hailed the selection.
” Each one of the bus drivers works alone and handles public money. We took it very seriously that larceny related to this area of our work took position,” Shinichi Hirai, an official at Kyoto’s public transportation commission, told AFP.
” If our rigorous procedures were not accepted, then our company may be thoughtless and it could result in eroding the government’s respect,” he said. – Agency