45 Year-old Prefectural Office Worker with Developmental Disabilities Talks About Being Bullied at Work: “I was told it was my fault”

Extract from SPA! via Yahoo! Japan

November 25 2024

TOKYO – Yamamoto Takafumi (pseudonym, 45 years old), who has ASD (autism spectrum disorder). Yamamoto works at a prefectural office, but communication at work is not going well, and when he disclosed his ASD to his superiors, he began to suffer power harassment every day, and is currently on leave due to adjustment disorder.

“I was diagnosed with a developmental disorder about four years ago. I had been bullied since elementary school, so I suspected I had a developmental disorder in my late 20s. No matter what I said, people would dislike me. When I tripped and fell and injured myself in elementary school, my teacher told me it was my fault for falling, and my classmates said, ‘We’re going to put you on trial now,’ and I was humiliated by the whole class. You may not believe it, but I wasn’t allowed to write a message in my elementary school yearbook.

I actually wanted to go to graduate school and get a research position, but I gave up and dropped out. I ended up working at the prefectural office as a second-time new graduate. I was assigned to a research department at the prefectural office, but because of the characteristics of my ASD, I couldn’t even notice that my boss was angry, and I became increasingly isolated at work.”

So Yamamoto went to a clinic to get an official ASD diagnosis and came out to his boss about his developmental disorder. In workplaces that are understanding of developmental disorders, you may be able to receive reasonable accommodation if you are open about your disorder, but that was not the case for Yamamoto.

“I have a meeting with my head of department once every six months, and at that time I disclosed my developmental disorder, attaching a medical certificate, but my head’s response was to ‘keep it for the time being’. Later, the certificate was rejected. From then on, my work was only made very simple, and things I had not said were implied as saying them, and I was threatened that if I consulted anyone any more, my position would be worsened, so the bullying at work got worse. I wrote down the details of the power harassment and handed it over to my boss, but he did not acknowledge that there was a problem, and I continued to endure the power harassment for over two years.”

There is a consultation desk at my workplace, and I consulted them and my superiors, but they simply dismissed me with the words, “You’re at fault.” I also consulted an industrial physician, but he specialized in internal medicine, so I couldn’t get any advice that would lead to a solution.

Also, if a public servant discriminates, the perpetrator may be subject to disciplinary action or criminal liability. That’s why, Yamamoto says, if it is discovered, it will lead to mass disciplinary action (scandals), so the higher-ups cover it up. Some people with ASD characteristics will thoroughly investigate anything that concerns them. Yamamoto has such characteristics, and he said he looked into scandals in the workplace.

“I found out that in addition to power harassment, sexual harassment, maternity harassment, caregiving harassment, and customer harassment were also covered up. After all, it was a workplace where if someone said that crows were white, everyone had to say that they were white, so there was nothing I could do. Even if there was a scandal, it was basically tolerated.”

Yamamoto has been on leave for almost a year now. He has a strong desire to return to work, but his secondary disability, adjustment disorder, has not yet gone into remission. Yamamoto is also considering filing a lawsuit, but his lawyer explained to her that it is difficult to win an administrative lawsuit. According to one theory, the success rate is about 10%.

“I don’t want to sue and get money. I just want to raise the issue of the fact that power harassment is occurring in a place like the prefectural office, where power harassment should not occur. I want people with disabilities to stop being discriminated against.”