In a landmark ruling, the Osaka High Court recognized that a then 11-year-old girl with hearing difficulties who was killed in a traffic accident would have earned the same as those without disabilities in the future, awarding her family higher compensation than in the lower court ruling.

The lawsuit contested the "lost earnings" of Ayuka Ide, who died in the 2018 accident. By ruling that her estimated lifetime earnings are the same as those of people without disabilities, the court dispelled the stereotype that "those with disabilities are unable to work the same as those without."

Lost earnings are the future income a person would have earned had they survived or not gotten injured, and a key factor in calculating the amount of compensation. Lifetime earnings of minors are calculated based on the average wage of all workers.

In previous court rulings, lost earnings for people with disabilities were reduced on the grounds that their working capacity is limited. In the latest case, the Osaka District Court had ruled that the girl would have earned 85% of the average wage in the future.

The Osaka High Court, meanwhile, acknowledged that Ide was highly skilled at communication and would have had fewer issues working in the future. It furthermore focused on the advancement in digital technology and the development of laws in recent years.

The performance of hearing aids has improved thanks to artificial intelligence, and the widespread use of audio-to-text apps has diversified the means of communication.

Under the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, administrative bodies and private businesses are required to pay reasonable consideration to improve the environment for those with disabilities. The Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities calls for business operators to create a comfortable working environment for those people.

There are many people with hearing disabilities working in places where necessary measures are taken, communicating with those around with the help of digital technology.

The high court pointed out that at the time of the 2018 accident, such a situation could have been forecast to come true by the time Ide started working.

The ruling corrected the disparity between those with disabilities and unimpaired people by taking societal changes and future potential into account.

In a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were approximately 1.1 million people with disabilities employed in Japan, up more than 250,000 over five years.

Meanwhile, the government's consultation services have received complaints from such workers, including, "I was discriminated against by my employer," and, "I asked for consideration but my request hasn't been met."

The difficulties faced by people with disabilities in their daily life stem from social barriers. The Osaka High Court ruling is based on this notion.

To build a society where people's rights are guaranteed regardless of disabilities, we must incessantly strive to remove those "barriers."