A labor ministry office in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, concluded that a transgender hospital worker’s mental health issues were the result of months of being misgendered by other employees, The Asahi Shimbun has learned. The Ibaraki Labor Standards Inspection Office ruled in February this year that an assistant nurse developed her mental health problems due to ongoing workplace power harassment and discrimination. A lawyer representing the assistant nurse said the recognition of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) harassment by administrative bodies is uncommon and that this “means a lot in terms of deterrence.” According to workplace incident investigation reports from the case, an assistant nurse, 50, was born as a male but has identified as a female from an early age. She changed her registered gender to female in 2004 and began working at a hospital in the prefecture in 2013.