Tokyo District Court judge Hara Katsuya has thrown out a case regarding a now 23 year old former idol who was being sued by her management company for violating the company’s no dating rule. Both the woman and the company haven’t been named.

In April 2012, the woman signed a contract to become part of an idol group. One of the clauses of the contract was that she would be sued by the company if she was found to be dating a fan. In December 2013, the former idol began dating a fan, in violation of her contract. In July 2014, she said that she wanted out of the group, and began to stop showing up for work. Once the relationship was found out, the management company sued her and her boyfriend for 9.9 million yen, in compensation for violating her contract and for damages.

Judge Hara delivered his ruling on Monday. In his statement on the case, he spoke about the logic behind the company’s no dating rule, saying, “Fans desire integrity in idols, and as such, prohibiting romantic relationships, from the management’s perspective, has a certain amount of rationality.”

But there are more factors to think about in this situation. He continued, “The enrichment of one’s life that comes from association with the opposite sex is covered under the right of self-determination. Association with the opposite sex is part of the pursuit of happiness. Even taking into account the unique circumstances of being an idol, prohibiting such associations is going too far.”

Judge Hara dismissed the case on the guards that he saw no malicious intent on the former idol’s part to damage the company that employed her. Had there been malicious intent, we would’ve ruled in the company’s favor.

 

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