For firing a transgender male, a Chinese healthcare company was ordered on Monday by a local arbitration commission in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, to pay the dismissed worker 1,600 yuan ($247).
Ciming Checkup agreed to pay the amount to Liu, a 29-year-old who was born female but identifies himself as male. The payment is equivalent to one-week salary as sales consultant and compensation to the transgender man who was fired one week after he was hired in April 2015 allegedly because of his gender.
Liu actually sought a higher compensation of 2,643 yuan and public apology due to his being a transgender but because he was not qualified for the job.
But the head of Ciming’s human resource department was quoted as saying that Liu was fired because they thought he was gay, his choice of clothes were not compatible with the image of Ciming and he looks like a lesbian. Despite gays becoming more accepted in Chinese society, many homosexuals, transgenders, lesbians and other members of the LGBT community still suffer from social stigma with employers and co-workers, said a report published by the Aibai Culture and Education Center, a non-profit organization in China.
Liu, in a statement, said, “I am not doing this only for myself, but also for all those who might face employment discrimination, such as those who are pregnant and disabled.”
It is a landmark case because it is the first in China’s history to hear a complaint about transgender discrimination, reported Shanghaiist.