The Japanese Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a post office worker who was fired in 2000, ten years before he was scheduled to retire, when it was discovered that he had received a suspended prison sentence in 1973 for striking a riot cop during a protest against the Vietnam war.

Following the dismissal, he filed a lawsuit claiming that it was unfair for the post office to dismiss him 10 years before retirement, when he could not make a new career start, without paying him a retirement allowance.

Earlier district and high court rulings rejected the man’s claims, saying that the reason the sacking was delayed by 27 years was that he had hidden the fact that he had received a suspended prison sentence.

Only one of the five Supreme Court justices who heard the case felt that man’s dismissal was unwarranted.

The Supreme Court ruling was made by a majority of four out of five judges. Justice Tokuji Izumi had opposed the sacking saying, “He worked for a long time exceeding the (20-year) statue of limitations under the Civil Code without any problems, and under principles of faith and trust, firing him cannot be permitted.”

Japan’s National Public Service Law stipulates that public servants are to be fired if they are sentenced to a prison term, even if it is suspended.