$7 theft costs bus driver entire $84,000 pension

A Japanese bus driver with 29 years of service lost his retirement package worth $84,000 after being fired for stealing $7 from passengers' fares.

Kyoto City sacked the man, who was not named, after he was filmed by the security camera of his bus pilfering 1,000 yen ($7) in 2022.

After he was denied his retirement money of more than 12 million yen ($84,000), the driver sued the city but lost the case.

The verdict was overturned in his favour, with a court ruling that the punishment was excessive.

But on Thursday the Supreme Court delivered a final ruling in the city's favour, reinstating the original penalty.

It ruled that the man's conduct could undermine public trust in the system and the sound operation of the bus service.

In the original incident a group of five passengers entered the bus and paid him 1,150 yen, according to the ruling.

The driver instructed the group to drop 150 yen worth of coins into a fare collection box, and accepted a 1,000-yen bill by hand and didn't report it properly.

Despite being caught on camera, he tried to deny it during a meeting with his superior.

The driver had been reprimanded several times during his career over various incidents, according to the ruling.

This included repeatedly smoking an electronic cigarette while on duty, albeit when there were no passengers on board.

Kyoto City hailed the decision.

"Each one of the bus drivers works alone and handles public money. We took it very seriously that embezzlement related to this area of our work took place," Shinichi Hirai, an official at Kyoto's public transport bureau, told AFP.

"If our strict measures were not accepted, then our organisation could become careless and it could result in eroding the public's trust," he said.