Ugandan workers sue Chinese construction giant in HIV dispute
Employees who claim they were forced to take blood tests seek compensation after losing their jobs when they tested positive for the virus
When Kato was called into his manager’s office, the Ugandan driver assumed he would be sent on an errand, not be ordered to take an HIV test and lose his job when it came back positive, leading him to sue his Chinese employer for unfair dismissal.
The 45-year-old is one of two HIV-positive workers who went to court in June to demand compensation from their former employer, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), in Uganda’s second high-profile Aids discrimination case in two years.
“[My manager] said: ‘If you don’t go for this test, you’ll be fired’,” said Kato, a father of three who declined to give his full name for fear of stigma.
“We had to go along with it because we were afraid of losing our jobs,” he added, describing how half a dozen employees were ferried to a clinic in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to have their blood tested.
Uganda’s high court will hear the case on August 16, in which the two plaintiffs are asking for 400 million Uganda shillings (around US$110,000) in compensation, after efforts to reach an out-of-court settlement failed.