Indian in Japan wins damages for skin query

[gomichild]

Sify news

A Japanese court has ordered a real estate agency and one of its employees to pay damages for asking an Indian man if his skin colour was "normal" when he phoned the firm to find an apartment.

"Asking a foreigner his or her skin colour is a clear violation of individual rights," judge Sota Tanaka told Saitama District Court, north of Tokyo, awarding Srirama Chandra B Murthy damages totalling 500,000 yen.

Murthy, who works for a software company, had demanded the company, the employee and Saitama prefecture pay a total of 1.2 million yen for the distress he suffered.

The judge rejected the argument that the prefecture should also be held liable as it is obliged to supervise the agency.

Murthy phoned the agency, Nikken Juhan, in April 2001 to find an apartment in Toda City, Saitama prefecture.

According to the Tokyo Shimbun -- which reported the ruling handed down on Tuesday -- the employee who received the call asked him: "What is your skin colour? Is it the normal colour?"

When Murthy asked what colour was normal, she said "like Japanese", prompting the infuriated Indian to hang up.

Saitama court officials confirmed the amount of the award, but declined to give other details of the ruling.

Hmmm...interesting....

[Taro Toporific]

Sify news
[i]A Japanese court has ordered a real estate agency and one of its employees to pay damages for asking an Indian man if his skin colour was "normal" when he phoned the firm to find an apartment.
Hmmm...interesting....

What's much interesting are the standard notices posted in every real estate agencies' listings of rentals that say:
No dogs, no pianos, no aliens.

[gomichild]

Hmmm I can think of about 5 different real estate companies to sue just off the top of my head...

*phones lawyer*

[Taro Toporific]

We're in the money, We're in the money, come on, my honey,
Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!

---------------------

Hmmm I can think of about 5 different real estate companies to sue just off the top of my head...
*phones lawyer*

Sad to say that this a limited, one-time ruling.
Unlike Anglo Common Law, most Japanese judicial rulings do NOT set a precedent (rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases and authority to be followed in courts of justice).

[GomiGirl]

Sad to say that this a limited, one-time ruling.
Unlike Anglo Common Law, most Japanese judicial rulings do NOT set a precedent (rule for future determinations in similar or analogous cases and authority to be followed in courts of justice).

But the laywer who represented the plaintiff could set up a nice little practice.. I was refused an apartment a few years ago. The fudosan made the mistake of ringing the owner while I was there to check to see if it was OK that they showed the place to a gaijin. The owner refused on the language barrier grounds despite the fact that I understood everything that was being said.

I didn't want to make too much of a drama as there were heaps of other fudosans around and I voted with my feet and my rent money. I made the fudosan know why I was not going to use their services.

The damages in this case were not that high but the message speaks volumes.

[Taro Toporific]

I was refused an apartment a few years ago.

I have met up with screaming fudosan, trashcan-flinging fudosan, and non-speaking fudosan. However, the most common of the fudosan-zoku is the "smiling" fudosan who just tacks on 30% extra for gaijin ...and shows only the worst properties to FG.