Society
Court rules against HIV job seeker
By Zhang Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-13 09:31
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HEFEI -- A court in East China's Anhui province on Friday ruled against a man who claimed he was denied a job because he is HIV positive, in the Chinese mainland's first such discrimination case, one of his lawyers said.
The plaintiff, who has been identified only by his alias Xiao Wu, lost his case against the education and labor departments of Anqing city in Anhui, said Li Fangping, one of his attorneys.
"We were very shocked and disappointed when we heard the verdict," Li told China Daily on Friday.
"We will definitely appeal."
Xiao Wu, who did not appear in court on Friday, learned about the verdict from his attorneys and said he felt deeply sad.
The man, in his early 20s, had been confident about the outcome until he heard the result.
"I was not only angry, but also I cannot understand why my demand was rejected," he told China Daily on Friday.
"My contact with my students will be no more than as one of their peers. I do not understand why I am regarded as not qualified as a teacher."
The lawsuit alleged city officials denied the plaintiff, a recent college graduate, a teaching job after a medical screening revealed he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The screening was conducted after he had already passed written tests and interviews.
Cao Yijiang, chief judge in the case, said the court made the ruling in line with the Teachers Law, which stipulates that a teaching job requires applicants to have both mental and physical qualifications.
According to the teaching qualifications defined by the Ministry of Education, applicants for teaching positions should not be carrying infectious diseases such as AIDS.
Before Friday's ruling, attorney Li Fangping said the Employment Promotion Law would be up for scrutiny if his client lost.
"It contains a clear rule that (employers) cannot violate a person's employment rights because he or she carries a disease," Li said last month when the case was heard.
Li said the education department had defended itself by saying the decision was made "with the interests of the students and the public in mind".
Xie Aiping from the city's human resources and social security department said on Friday morning that she thought it might be better for Xiao Wu to abandon his case.
"For the case of Xiao Wu, we just did what we should do according to the recruitment policy, which says that HIV carriers cannot be recruited as civil servants," Xie said.
She said that in recent years the department had rejected similar cases, in which applicants tested HIV positive.
"None of them has filed a lawsuit about this," she said. "Most of them turned to medical treatment. Personally, I would suggest that he stop suing and receive medical treatment from now on."
Xie, a mother, said she would not agree to her child being taught by an HIV carrier.
Yu Fangqiang, a coordinator from Beijing Yirenping Center, a civil society that promotes welfare, benevolence and equality, said he was shocked by the ruling.
"This will be a huge blow to all the HIV carriers in China as this refuses their basic rights for a job application," he said.
The civil society wrote a letter to the Ministry of Health, appealing for the ministry to clearly define which occupations are not suitable for HIV carriers.
"I think Xiao Wu did a fantastic job, no matter what the result was," Yu said, "because this will encourage more HIV victims to fight against discrimination."
AIDS has long had a heavy stigma attached to it in China, with sufferers forced into hiding. However, there have been recent signs that attitudes are changing.
The government has started talking more openly about HIV prevention and control in China, although people with HIV/AIDS still encounter huge discrimination in employment, education and healthcare.
Official statistics say that at least 740,000 people are living with HIV but campaigners say the actual figure could be far higher.
