A woman, suffering from a condition that causes an abnormally large head, has accused a Shanghai teacher training centre of rejecting her because of her 'unfavourable looks', in what may be the first such job discrimination case on the mainland.
Qingling Qiuzi , from Henan , a 23-year-old trainee teacher with Shanghai Jiaotong University's Only Education Group, said yesterday that the Xuhui district labour dispute arbitration office had accepted her breach of contract case.
If the arbitration office cannot mediate successfully, the case will proceed to a local court.
Ms Qingling is demanding Only Education Group, which trains teachers for affiliated schools, pay her at least 60,000 yuan - 50,000 yuan for emotional compensation and 10,000 yuan for breaking their contract, and refund a training fee of 260 yuan.
Ms Qingling, who was born with hydrocephalus, has an abnormally large head. But she stressed she had never felt discriminated against until being rejected on her first day at the education group's Zhejiang branch.
'My confidence has been seriously damaged since then as they [Only Education Group] told me my failure was just because of my looks,' she said.