Woman sues after hospital where she works publicly reveals she transitioned gender

I hope she gets all the money she has requested. Her superior should be fired too.

One has to wonder what makes people like this boss get so hung up on what someone else does with their lives.

This is different from the Hitotsubashi case.

This is a professional matter with privacy issues, not a spat between students.

Her boss should be fired/disciplined and the hospital fined.

Absolutely unforgivable and an invasion of privacy. It's not right that she was treated so badly by her boss and colleagues.

The boss should be sacked or demoted at least. Unforgivable.

An appalling thing to do.

One has to wonder what makes people like this boss get so hung up on what someone else does with their lives.

Unfortunately, some people are like this and it's not just confined to Japan.

She should be suing for more money.

12 million is literally nothing for a doctor and people should understand that the if they like gossiping, they have to bear its consequences.

$1M at least.

When information such as this is revealed, it should be at the person’s behest with a time of their choosing and when they feel comfortable. If someone isn’t ready to share certain details with the world, they shouldn’t be forced to.

Majority of Boss is always boss not a human in this country.

She must get 12 million yen, according to the complaint.

But I think it's not enough what she feel pain during her job.

Having a boss or someone you work with, intentionally share private information with other coworkers is not uncommon here. They make the excuse that the other employees need to know, for whatever goddamn reason, and it often causes undue stress and other problems, and often times the person in question will quit.

THAT is the reason, because the boss is uncomfortable in his own skin, he needs to share this "secret" with everyone else to justify his own phobias, and make it "her" fault.

He should be guano-canned and also be forced to pay along with the hospital as well.

Hospitals often deal with privileged information, and openly sharing this should be against the law!

But this person had surgery 15 years ago and has lived pretty much as a woman. You can talk all you want about how, technically speaking, she cannot be a female.

The key is she is legally female.

You are spot on about the disgusting behaviour of the boss.

Perhaps the two posters above me think the boss did a service by pointing out that the person they seemingly had no problem with before underwent gender reassignment surgery.

Is that it?

You are all now nitpicking on the changing room but the article doesn't say that was the only harassment.

I know my wife and many other women would object to that and furthermore it is against the law simple as that.

I don't know where you're posting from. The puritanism is not global law. It is not against any law in Japan. There are bathrooms, baths, etc, used by both (and any) genders. Before 1945, they had no concept of separating even in public places.

If you are fine with a strange man being in a woman's only bathroom

Happens everyday at my office. I'm fine. He does a great job at cleaning the whole building. That was a lady that did it before and the men were glad that she cleaned their bathroom too.

 Just because I might feel comfortable changing in the women's changing room, doesn't mean the women there will be comfortable with me doing it.

Even in the men's , the others could feel uncomfortable due to your ethnicity. Like at the nihonjin-only onsen in Hokkaido.

Looks like the hospital will have to make another changing room - but the question is: who will it be for?

Put a few cabins with curtains. Those that feel... whatever, those that don't want to be seen, can use them.

It has been against the law for a while in Japan. 

This, about "sharing her gender" is not against the law.

She started working as a nursing assistant at the hospital in October 2013 and was urged by her superior to disclose her birth-assigned gender.

Though she told her boss it was unnecessary to reveal the information because she had officially changed her gender on her family register, the boss went ahead and told their colleagues without her consent.

There is a HELL of a lot of missing information. Why for instance, was there any need to disclose the information in the first place, as her family registry had already been changed?

Unless her boss became aware of the change in the registry and made it an issue.

Again too much information is missing here.

The boss has acting incorrectly firstly in revealing the information and secondly allowing a culture of intolerance to persist. I personally think the second is worse than the first.

Even in tricky cases, such as a transgender female who still looks enough like a man to make other women uncomfortable, a person in a position of responsibility, teachers included, should discuss with that person the best way to proceed. They should not blurt it out to other people and then let their prejudices run wild.

This, about "sharing her gender" is not against the law.

Yes it is. Disclosing personal data, without agreement from your employee is against the law. Even marital status, medical history, past/current conviction, nationality (change of, mostly if they are/were formerly North Korean nationals), religion , being burakumin or not... the employer is not allowed to let other staff, customers, strangers know. For burakumin and religion, the employer is not even supposed to have the information as it's not in any official data, but some get it illegally from agencies. And the law for privacy is very recent in Japan. Early 2000's.

 be allowed to use the same bathroom facilities as real women or even better shower with them according to you ?

I'm what you call a real woman. I don't care sharing toilets with anyone. In most places/houses there are boxes with a seat or a low Japanese/Turkish toilet, you close the door and that can be used by anyone, so how can anyone be bothered ? Idem for shower, sento, sauna, the beach, I don't care being with others. I can understand that certain persons feel uncomfortable if they have to be naked in collective equipment. That was an issue when I was a teen and for sports we changed all together in the same room or even outdoor near the field. Some teens would miss the class to avoid it. So a few individual showers/changing rooms should always be provided.

legally a woman" is not the same as actually being a woman

Legally a woman is how the workplace should define it. The person in question is a woman under Japanese law.

Your idea of “actually being a woman” is not relevant in this case.

That her boss disclosed her information against her will is 20% of the problem. The reaction of the coworkers that bullied her over it is 80%. Ask 12 million to each of them. And demand that the whole bunch get fired from medical professions.

Hospitals often deal with privileged information,

Even more : they deal with patients every single day. The patients may have all gender situations, it's the first duty of all medical staff for not making the patient feel uncomfortable. Those that can't even behave with a coworker, imagine how they will be if a teen in the middle of his/her gender issues...

the hospital operator failed to educate its employees on dealing with such circumstances

The persons should arrive in the job already educated.

and openly sharing this should be against the law!*

It has been against the law for a while in Japan. The problem is enforcing. In case of fault, they always find an excuse : our data was leaked, that was necessary to disclose due to higher interest... blah blah. So it's good trials like that occur to see if serious penalty can get applied.

The boss's decision to make the announcement aside...

I don’t see why you don’t address it. It needs addressing.

As for the woman who feels repulsed, she’s being honest but what would you do about this?

The person in question is a woman in the eyes of the law. Get over it.

If it's okay for a man to "feel like a woman", it's certainly okay for someone else to think it feels gross to get changed in the same room with him.

The complaint isn't that someone thought it feels gross. It's that someone told her it feels gross. There is a massive difference between feeling something negative and actually verbalizing it to the person. The latter could be considered harassment.

Funny I should be defending this, because I generally think the whole victimization, bend-over-backwards to accommodate my personal weirdness culture is ridiculous.

But this person had surgery 15 years ago and has lived pretty much as a woman. You can talk all you want about how, technically speaking, she cannot be a female. But she looks, acts, feels and lives as a woman. Where you people suggest she change her clothes?

And, aside from anyone's personal feelings on the gender issue, her privacy was grossly and intentionally violated.

in my 20 years in Japan

"there is no one more blind than he who does not wish to see". In most other's people's 20 yrs in Japan's lady's rooms, you can often see standing urinals for boys. And you can see grown up men enter too, to use the board to change a baby's nappies or help a little girl (either they are ashamed to be been seen doing this by fellow men, or the gent's are not equipped). I was often say

Going inside the woman's bathroom as a man is not allowed pure and simple as they have no business being there.

You are not the one deciding what is allowed. Each place/shop decides of rules and the person in the article was there "as a woman" and "as authorized staff" so it's not a point of breaking rules.

 the long term experiences of transgender cases and the results are not good; very high proportion of suicides, lots of regrets, lots of continuation of mental health problems, 

Out of topic, but that does not say the persons have more problems that those that wanted to transition and never did it. And social discrimination is a large part of their problems.

Regardless of thoughts over the mater, this is a breach of privacy and trust.

Her manager should be fired, and the Senior Management held liable for not having taken action more swiftly.

The individual will win their case, though damages however wont be at the level you'd see in the US.

Regardless of thoughts over the mater, this is a breach of privacy and trust.

Her manager should be fired, and the Senior Management held liable for not having taken action more swiftly.

The individual will win their case, though damages however wont be at the level you'd see in the US.

I agree. The manager is (should be) in hot water. But I hope that a successful lawsuit on the part of the plaintiff in this case does not create a sense that the complaints of discomfort by the women in the locker room should be ignored. Taking care of past wrongs is important, but so is preventing future ones.

Legally a woman is how the workplace should define it. The person in question is a woman under Japanese law. Your idea of “actually being a woman” is not relevant in this case.

Perhaps not relevant to the case of the manager leaking personal information, but it is relevant to the aftermath of the manager's actions.

She changed her gender status to female on her official family register in 2004.

She started working as a nursing assistant at the hospital in October 2013 and was urged by her superior to disclose her birth-assigned gender.

Is it necessary to tell your employer about a gender status change?

Transgenders have the right to be who they are and the sex they are legally.

Only T's have this right?

The other women nurses had no issues with this transgendered woman nurse until the manager outed her.

Yes. Apparently so. But I’m asking about the aftermath. Now the know. They feel uncomfortable. What should be done?

if they are now uncomfortable, I suggest that the hospital apply their personnel policy for uncooperative employees.

That seems rather heavy handed.

Or maybe the manager could give up his office for them to change in.*

Not bad. There would be some poetic justice as well.

More activist fuelled trash. Message to the masses:

We are the esteemed holders of truth. We're good.

You don't know anything, listen and obey. You're bad if you question. We'll sue you, jail you, trash your reputation and destroy you.

Analysis:

The boss should have sought and obtained permission to divulge the information.

The transgender woman has every right to be treated respectfully and lovingly and every right to be criticized for his/her actions as everyone else.

The transgender woman should have disclosed his/her biological realities to work colleagues from the beginning so that there were no misunderstandings. Eg. Arousing sexual/romantic interest from biological males only for them to find out what could very well be an uncomfortable truth later leading to disappointment and resentment. Etc.

Male patients have the right to refuse intimate care from this biological male nursing assistant. But how can they know unless he/she was honest about thier biological reality?

The transgender woman is NOT a biological woman

She should have told her boss that it's none of his business. It's a private matter, end of story.

I am going to guess here – but a nurse being hired would undergo a physical examination either as part of the hiring process, or later. Thus her not being physically a woman (lack of some internal bits) as reveled thru that exam would be part of her medical record, and her boss would have access to those records, assuming he is a doctor. If this is how he learned of her transgender status and then disclosed it, I suspect there is a law violation as well.

A woman's right to privacy in the changing room, locker room, bathroom etc. is paramount.

I can understand why the nurses in the hospital felt they had a right to know.

A woman's right to privacy in the changing room, locker room, bathroom etc. is paramount.

I can understand why this woman nurse in the hospital felt the other women nurses had no right to know.

The other women nurses had no issues with this transgendered woman nurse until the manager outed her.

if they are now uncomfortable, I suggest that the hospital apply their personnel policy for uncooperative employees. Or maybe the manager could give up his office for them to change in.

But this post is about a Japanese transgender who legally a woman and therefore should have been treated has one.

"legally a woman" is not the same as actually being a woman. And this upsets some people. Now that the cat is out of the bag, something must be done. If you allow the transgendered person to use the women's bathroom/changing room because it is her right - do we not also have the responsibility to provide for the women who do not wish to use the same facilities?

Let the transgendered person sue the boss. But the new situation still needs to be addressed.

I have no problem whatsoever with a person who changed sex because it makes him/her feel better.

I do have a problem with a person who doesn't want to change his/her sex but still want to be treated as a person of the opposite sex and then complains when certain issues arise.

Seeing as this person changed his sex to become a female she was treated wrongly by the hospital and I hope she wins the lawsuit.

I can understand why this woman nurse in the hospital felt the other women nurses had no right to know.

Reminds me of the old Sesame Street song: One of these things is not like the other. One of these things doesn't belong... The outed nurse is not a woman. And that's the problem. You got somebody undercover making the others uncomfortable.

It gets tiresome trying to explain that while usually mind and body match their gender, sometimes, they do not. One sticking point in the discussion is that we live in a time where its not popular to even accept that there is a real difference between the typical male and female mind and the people who refuse to accept that also tend to be those who fiercely insist upon transgender rights....which leans on the idea that there is a difference between the male and female mind. Well? Which is it? For me its that there are general and common differences between male and female minds but nothing is universal. Seeing the difference is more art than science.

A big issue with this particular case is that we don't know how well this particular trans woman was passing as female. There may well have been rumors circulating already and trouble in the office. The woman who called the trans woman creepy may have felt that way long before the fact of her being trans was made clear by the boss. The boss may have been trying to clear up a pre-existing issue and if so, I do have sympathy for him. He may have been dealing with an office of children and he foolishly tried telling them the truth as a solution.

But if there was no suspicion and he just had to tell everyone, then he is the child.

I don’t see why you don’t address it. It needs addressing.

Others are, and I mostly agree that based on the information provided in the article, the boss had no need to disclose this information.

As for the woman who feels repulsed, she’s being honest but what would you do about this?

It's a good question. If we (society) can make adjustments for people who feel they are a member of the opposite sex, can we not also make arrangements for people who feel uncomfortable because of those adjustments?

The person in question is a woman in the eyes of the law. Get over it.

The law can always be challenged and changed. The fact that this person is considered a woman in the eyes of the law is case in point. Just because I might feel comfortable changing in the women's changing room, doesn't mean the women there will be comfortable with me doing it.

It's a tricky one for me. As a rule, I'm against this person be allowed in the women's changing room, and completely on the side of the women who are uncomfortable. But they were likely changing together prior to the announcement, so in that case they were "okay" with it because they didn't know. And that's the point - they didn't know. But now they do. So what should be done? It's a bit of a dilemma. Looks like the hospital will have to make another changing room - but the question is: who will it be for?

I don't know where you're posting from. The puritanism is not global law. It is not against any law in Japan. There are bathrooms, baths, etc, used by both (and any) genders. Before 1945, they had no concept of separating even in public places.

I have never been to any department store, hotel, restaurant, sports club, onsen,...in my 20 years in Japan where they had mixed bathrooms.

You have the very rare mixed onsen but they are almost extinct now.

Going inside the woman's bathroom as a man is not allowed pure and simple as they have no business being there.

He does a great job at cleaning the whole building.

I was referring to a strange man entering a woman's only bathroom and obviously not talking about authorized cleaning staff.

She claims she was later harassed by colleagues, with one telling her, "It feels gross" to get changed in the same room with her, the complaint said.

The boss's decision to make the announcement aside...

If it's okay for a man to "feel like a woman", it's certainly okay for someone else to think it feels gross to get changed in the same room with him. That's not harassment. That's somebody expressing their feelings.

@Coskuri

If you are fine with a strange man being in a woman's only bathroom or him being naked around you that's your bussines.

I know my wife and many other women would object to that and furthermore it is against the law simple as that.