Japanese baseball player Ikuhiro Kiyota has filed a suit seeking damages and reinstatement by the Lotte Marines after his contract was terminated for dining out during the coronavirus pandemic, his lawyer said Thursday.
In the suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Kiyota, 35, is seeking about 97 million yen ($850,000) in damages, claiming the punishment he received from the Pacific League club in May was "unlawful and not effective," the lawyer said.
During the first hearing on Thursday, Lotte, based in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo, called for Kiyota's claim to be dismissed. The team said in May that it had terminated his contract because he had breached the team's rules, following media reports Kiyota had gone out several times.
The Lotte Marines declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The defense team of Kiyota, who started his career with the Marines in 2010, argued in the hearing that the team requested players to refrain from going out during the coronavirus pandemic but did not prohibit them from doing so.
It also said that Lotte did not comply with requests from the players' association of Nippon Professional Baseball for negotiations regarding Kiyota's treatment.
"It is no exaggeration to say that (Kiyota's) career in professional baseball is over because he was unable to agree on a contract with a different team due to the impact of the unjust punishment," the lawsuit read.
According to the suit, Kiyota dined out with a female acquaintance in September last year when Lotte was on the road in Sapporo but made a false report to the club.
There was a cluster of coronavirus infections afterward, with Kiyota and some of his teammates testing positive. Kiyota was suspended indefinitely in January this year for breaching the club rules.
While the suspension was lifted on May 1, the Marines said on May 23 that it will terminate his contract because of "acts of disloyalty" to the team. The announcement followed reports that Kiyota had gone out several times after his suspension was lifted.
