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Chinese worker loses his job because he has hepatitis and takes his life
A man from the central province of Hubei is denied employment because he has hepatitis B and so he hangs himself. In China, the discrimination continues against the 130 million carriers and the 30 million who are infected.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – A worker from the central province of Hubei hung himself shortly after he was rejected employment because he had hepatitis B. Southern Metropolitan News said Li Zhimin killed himself in his home next to the Zhongshan factory after discovering he had not been hired.
According to the report, Li had been to an interview at the Galanz (household appliance factory) and had passed all the preliminary phases of the interview. Before obtaining the job, however, a medical exam revealed the presence of the disease and the worker was denied employment.
Before dying, Li had told a friend he would have been ashamed to return home without money.
The Maxin police, who was responsible for the investigation, confirmed that it was a suicide. But an official explained “ it is difficult to say how much the rejection influenced his decision to take his life since we did not find a suicide letter.”
The human resources department at Galanz confirmed denying Li the job claiming the virus was “in active reproduction phase, and he could have transmitted the virus to other workers”. Yet, medical research has proven that hepatitis cannot be transmitted through normal human contact. Zhou Litai, attorney, claims the factory violated the labor law and Li’s rights, however, they cannot be held legally responsible for his death.
Similar cases in China involving hepatitis patients are currently being debated. In addition, the national press spoke to a Henan university graduate that filed a lawsuit against Nokia’s Dongguan branch for having dismissed him due to the fact that he was carrying the virus. A similar situation applies to a worker from Hubei, who brought VTech Holdings to court on the grounds of discrimination.
China has 130 million carriers of the hepatitis B virus and over 30 million are infected. The discrimination towards these people is common, in particular against those who are seeking work.