Abstract:
Abstract: The fight against AIDS in Japan, a journey that has encountered much
resistance from a Japanese public and corporate sector ill-educated on the disease, may
have taken a new turn. Before 1995, employees infected with HIV or suffering from
AIDS had little recourse in fighting against the discrimination they faced in their private
lives and in the Japanese corporate sector. With the AIDS Dismissal Case, the Japanese
judiciary, in a show of judicial activism, found the dismissal of an HIV-infected worker
based upon his HIV status illegal and an infringement upon the worker's human rights.
In addition, the court found the disclosure of the worker's HIV status by his employer to
third parties to be an infringement upon his right to privacy. This Comment examines
this case and show its ambiguities and potential precedential value. Many predict that
the case will be seen as a viable base for civil rights protections against AIDS-based
employment discrimination in Japan.
