Konami employee demoted for becoming a mother
Being a mother can be bad news for the mother herself: sleepless nights, listening to constant crying and whining and almost dying from exhaustion. Add to that the fact that in Japan you could also be demoted from your job.
This has happened to an employee of Konami in Japan. She is suing the company after she allegedly had her wage lowered and was demoted upon returning from her maternity leave. Yoko Sekiguchi is seeking $343,000 in damages, stating that she was moved to a domestic position and had her salary cut by $2,080 a month after she returned.
Apparently, Konami changed her position to create a better child-rearing environment for her. Sekiguchi, as one can expect, was not pleased: “Being forced to lessen your career to raise a child is sexual discrimination.”
Sekiguchi’s job had her travelling all over the world to acquire licensing deals. The Winning Eleven series comes to mind.
June 21st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
[...] it’s a mother who’s getting attention from the video game community today, as Konami had demoted an employee for taking maternity leave. She is suing the company after she allegedly had her wage [...]
June 21st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
How thoughtful of Konami to demote her into a lesser position and reduce her pay without asking. Obviously, Konami should be suing for custody of her kid, since they apparently believe they can raise the child better than she can.