A COURT IN ZHEJIANG PROVINCE has announced its ruling in the country's first case of native place discrimination in job recruitment. The law is of great significance to the fight against discrimination and safeguard the equal right to employment. China Daily writer Wang Yiqing comments:

Hangzhou Internet Court issued its verdict in China's first case of "native place discrimination" in job recruitment, ruling in favor of the job seeker who brought the lawsuit.

The job seeker, who was rejected by Zhejiang Xilaideng Resort Ltd because she comes from Henan province, will receive compensation of 10,000 yuan ($1,422) and both a verbal and written apology from the resort. The written apology will be published by Legal Daily.

Discrimination against people from certain parts of China is common not only in job recruitment but also throughout society. And it is not only people from Henan province, but also those from many other regions that are the victims of such negative stereotyping.

Native place discrimination persists as it is always invisible and hard for the victims to obtain evidence proving they have been discriminated against because of where they come from.

In this case, the company's human resource staff publicly rejected the job seeker's two applications and listed her place of origin as the main reason for rejecting her application, which not only provoked public anger but also violated the job seeker's legal rights and interests.

It is good to see the victim of the resort's discrimination has turned to the law to safeguard her rights and interests. It is also good to see the court punishing the resort for its discriminatory behavior.

Besides native place discrimination, there are many other discriminations that undermine people's equal employment rights, such as gender discrimination. This case sets a good example of using the law to eliminate discrimination and hopefully it will have excellent demonstration effects in promoting equal employment rights for people no matter which part of China they come from.

It is expected that judicial remedy can be an effective way to curb discrimination and safeguard people's equal rights when applying for a job.