Chinese woman sacked for being pregnant wins landmark case against employer
Dismissed worker at centre of class action awarded US$1,500 as compensation for lost benefits, but says she plans to fight on
A woman in Beijing who was sacked because she was pregnant has won a groundbreaking workplace discrimination case against her former employer China Railway Logistics, The Beijing News reported on Tuesday.
The case, which was handled by the Chaoyang District Arbitration Commission for Labour and Personnel Disputes, was the first class action in the country to be brought by a female employee claiming wrongful dismissal. According to China’s labour laws, employers cannot unilaterally dismiss staff who are pregnant or nursing.
The woman, identified only as Xiaowei, filed the case along with former colleagues “Xiaolin” and “Xiaoming”, who were also fired. Xiaolin was pregnant at the time, while Xiaoming had recently given birth.
The three women joined CRL’s data management and customer services department in August 2015.
In December 2016, they were asked to sign documents agreeing to downgrades in rank and salary cuts, which they refused after they found out other employees were given a pay rise. CRL executives had earlier told them that the changes would be applied across the board.