A person who suffers from hepatitis-B has decided to sue a
subsidiary of the Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Asus for
discrimination.
Chen, 22, told China Daily yesterday that he had been
offered a job on December 7, 2005, at Changshuo Technology
(Shanghai) Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the leading computer maker
Asus, after two rounds of tough interviews, but was later rejected
when his health report, which indicted that he was a hepatitis-B
carrier, was sent to the company.
"On December 28, the company issued me a notice for breach of
contract, which stated clearly that the breach was based on the
fact that I am a hepatitis-B carrier," Chen said.
He showed the notice, which included a company logo, to the
media before turning it over to a court yesterday.
Chen is demanding 62,800 yuan and a public apology to compensate
him for his loss as well as mental suffering. He submitted his
indictment and evidence to the Shanghai Nanhui District People's
Court, but has not yet heard whether the court would accept the
suit.
A judge at the court said Chen would receive an answer in a
week. The case is said to be the city's first involving the
disease, and one of the few to have been filed in the country
though there are an estimated 120 million hepatitis-B carriers in
China.
In 2004, a court in Wuhu, in east China's Anhui Province, gave the country's first
ruling in a hepatitis-B discrimination case. It decided that a
government department in the city had discriminated against Zhang
Xianzhu, a recent graduate, by rejecting him because he had
hepatitis-B.
And last year, a recent graduate in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, killed an interviewer after
he was denied his chance to find a job as a civil servant. The man
was said to have received the highest score of all the applicants
on the civil service examinations.
"And yet discrimination still exists," Chen said. "It was not
the first time I was refused a job for that reason, and I believe I
might face more rejections in the future. I hope the case will
remind the government about the problem and warn employers of the
possible risks (of rejecting someone with hepatitis-B)."
Chen said he knew that some of his friends and schoolmates who
had the disease had had similar experiences.
In order to get his current job, Chen asked someone else to take
his health check for him. "But my employer found out recently
during our annual health check," he said. "I have not been fired
yet as I am still on contract, but I am not sure what will happen
when it ends."
(China Daily February 28, 2007)