Resort loses discrimination suit, must pay 10,000 yuan

A job seeker from Henan province who filed a "discrimination of place of origin" lawsuit against a Hangzhou resort has won her case, according to a verdict made by the Hangzhou Internet Court on Tuesday.

Yan Jialin, 23, will receive compensation of 10,000 yuan ($1,400), plus an oral and written apology advertised in Legal Daily from Zhejiang Xilaideng Resort, whose human resources department rejected her two applications and listed her place of origin as the main reason, the verdict said.

The case is widely believed to be the first case decided by a court concerning such discrimination in China.

During the court hearing, Zhejiang Xilaideng argued that the discrimination was the fault of the hotel's human resources manager who listed the place of origin as the reason Yan was not hired, but only for the company's filing purposes. It was accidentally posted online, the hotel said.

The judges rejected those claims, citing lack of sufficient proof and the negative impact that the hotel's behavior has had on Yan.

Yan, a law graduate from Henan, applied for two jobs at Zhejiang Xilaideng that had been posted on recruitment website zhaopin.com in July. She claimed she was rejected because she comes from Henan.

Yan said the reason for the rejection was humiliating and provocative. She sued the company for insulting people from Henan and infringing on her right to equal employment opportunities.

The Hangzhou Internet Court accepted the case on Aug 8.

Henan used to be one of China's poorest regions and is now its largest source of migrant workers. People from the province have been stereotyped as unskilled laborers.

Yan said she was basically satisfied with the court verdict and is still considering whether to submit further appeals.

Initially, Yan demanded a personal apology from the company and 60,000 yuan to compensate her for mental suffering. She also wanted Zhejiang Xilaideng to publish apologies in certain newspapers for 15 consecutive days in the indictment filed to the court.

According to the Hangzhou Daily, the presiding judge said after the hearing that the right to equal employment opportunities is one of the basic rights of citizens and is protected by law.

"The employment system should be standardized by laws and regulations to eliminate such discriminations," the judge noted on Tuesday.

Qin Jirong contributed to this story.