A Chinese court has maintained an original ruling in favour of a transgender man who sued his former employer for allegedly discriminating against him. It said that employers should not treat workers differently based on their gender identity and expression.

Known as “Mr. C,” the plaintiff was born as a woman but identifies as a man. He was dismissed after working for just over a week at a health centre named Ciming Checkup in the southwestern province of Guizhou. The plaintiff won the case against his former employer in January 2017 – the first such unfair dismissal case in China. However, the court found no evidence that he was dismissed because of discrimination against transgender people.

The court ruled on the appeal in recent days and the verdict was released on Sunday, according to US-backed Radio Free Asia. In total, the company must pay Mr. C around RMB 4,000 (HK$4,949), but will not have to issue a public apology to him.

According to an excerpt of the verdict posted online by LGBT NGO Common Language, which has been following the case, the court said: “An individual’s gender identity and gender expression falls within the protection of general personality rights, [everyone] should respect others’ rights to gender identity and expression.” Read more via Hong Kong Free Press