On October 22, 1998, the JNRSC was disbanded and placed under the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation, JRCC, and its assets were transferred.
While the smaller portion was expected to be repaid, the three JR Group railway companies were not held liable for failed earnings, and only made significant profit through sale of stock.
This controversy was cited as example of unfair labor practice by a number of union commissions, and litigation was brought up to fight against the anti-labor acts of JNR and its JR Group successors.
Litigation on the matter after 1998 rests on the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, which now holds the majority sum of the JNRSC's liability and assets.
On June 28, 2010, 23 years after the original privatization, the Supreme Court settled the dispute between the workers and the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, the successor body to the JNR Settlement Corporation.