A court in Guangzhou has found a company in breach of Chinese labor regulations after it refused to extend the contract of an employee with HIV.

The defendant, a food safety and inspection company, also broke the law by telling the plaintiff, surnamed Zheng, to take leave or be transferred to another role after his HIV diagnosis.

The ruling by Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday overturned an earlier verdict by a district court that cleared the company of any wrongdoing.

Zheng had worked for the company as a food quality inspector since September 2012. However, when he was diagnosed with HIV in 2015, he was told to take leave. The company then refused to extend his contract, which had expired on Aug 31, 2014.

The court stressed that no laws or regulations on the Chinese mainland ban people with HIV from working as food quality inspectors.