A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a damages claim seeking 3.85 million yen ($27,100) from the operator of Tokyo Disneyland by a former performer, who said she had suffered work-related injuries and that the company had failed to fulfill its duty of care.

In handing down the ruling at the Chiba District Court, Presiding Judge Tadahiro Okayama said that Oriental Land Co. could not have foreseen the plaintiff's condition deteriorating to the extent that she needed to reduce her work duties, and that it could not be said the firm had breached its duty of care.

According to the suit filed by the former contract worker in her 30s and her support group, she was hired in February 2015 by Oriental Land and appeared in shows and parades wearing character costumes weighing 10-30 kilograms.

In January 2017, the woman developed severe pain in her arm and was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome.

In August of that year, the Labor Standard Inspection Office recognized a causal relationship between the work and the woman's symptoms and certified the employee as having suffered a work-related injury.

==Kyodo

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