Good news at last. Comment follows at bottom:<\/p>\n
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African-American wins Y350,000 in damages for being denied entry into Osaka shop<\/strong> OSAKA \u2014 The Osaka High Court ordered an Osaka optical shop owner to pay 350,000 yen in damages to an African-American living in Kyoto Prefecture for denying him entry to the shop in 2004, altering a lower court ruling in January which rejected the plaintiff’s damages claim.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Presiding Judge Sota Tanaka recognized the owner told Steve McGowan, 42, a designer living in the town of Seika, to go away when he was in front of the shop, and acknowledged damages for McGowan’s emotional pain, saying the entry denial “is a one-sided and outrageous act beyond common sense.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n However, the remark “is not enough to be recognized as racially discriminatory,” he said. McGowan had demanded 5.5 million yen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n According to the ruling, the owner told McGowan to go away to the other side of the road in a strong language several times when he was about to enter the shop with an acquaintance in September 2004.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The plaintiff had claimed the owner said, “Go away. I hate black people,” but the ruling dismissed the claim, as the possibility that he misheard the owner cannot be eliminated.<\/em><\/strong> COMMENT:
\nJapan Today, Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 19:41 EDT<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.japantoday.com\/jp\/news\/387820\/all
\nCourtesy Kyodo News<\/p>\n
\n A plaintiff attorney said, “It’s unreasonable that discrimination was not recognized, but the court ordered a relatively large amount of damages payment for just demanding the plaintiff leave the shop. It seems that the court shows some understanding.”<\/em><\/strong>
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\nI am very happy Steve McGowan appealed his case, as it shows just how ludicrous the previous District Court ruling was last January.<\/p>\n