Millions of people in Henan Province, China, placed their hopes on Yan Jialin when she sued because she was denied a job because of her hometown.

Ha Nam is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, home to four ancient capitals and Shaolin Temple. However, this is still only an underdeveloped inland province and has a reputation throughout the country as a region full of scandals and negative influences. Local residents are often looked at with suspicious eyes.

Despite that, after being rejected by the Zhejiang Xilaideng Resort in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province in July just because he came from Henan, law bachelor Yan Jialin decided not to continue suffering from discrimination. special regions and suing.

The 23-year-old's lawsuit was received by a court specializing in resolving online disputes in Hangzhou in August. Wang Xushan, Yan's lawyer, said the client applied for two positions at the client. Zhejiang Xilaideng's hotel through zhaopin.com, but was eliminated after a day because her hometown was not suitable.

Yan said the reason is abusive and provocative. She sued the resort for insulting Ha Nam people, as well as for violating her equal job right. The bachelor of law required a compensation of 60,000 yuan (about 8,500 USD), and asked the court to force Zhejiang Xilaideng to publish a public apology in three state newspapers for 15 consecutive days.

The court on November 26 announced that Yan won the case and would receive a compensation of 10,000 yuan (US $ 1,400), along with a direct apology from Zhejiang Xilaideng as well as an apology article published in Legal Daily.

During the trial, Zhejiang Xilaideng blamed the hotel personnel manager, who used his hometown reason to dismiss Yan. However, the judges dismissed the resort's plea on the grounds that the lack of evidence and their actions negatively affected Yan.

"The recruitment system should be standardized based on laws and regulations to eliminate such discrimination," one judge said, saying that the equal opportunity of job opportunities is one of Citizens' basic rights, protected by law.

Yan said she was temporarily satisfied with the court ruling, but was still considering whether to file an appeal or not. This is the first case in which a court has resolved the issue of regional discrimination in China, helping to draw public attention to this situation.

Regional discrimination is a persistent problem in a country of about 1.4 billion people, divided by local languages and practices despite decades of migration. For years, Chinese media and social networks have been spreading stories about people in Henan, like stealing manhole covers to sell scrap.

In 2005, a police office in Shenzhen, a rich southern city, hung on the streets many banners accusing Henan groups of colluding with each other to extort money and call residents to report on "Henan gangs" to the government. Two Henan lawyers sued the office for insults, causing the Shenzhen police to publicly apologize.

Last year, an recruitment manager at online video company iQiyi instructed subordinates to filter the profiles of job applicants from Henan. The company then had to apologize for the wave of online data protests, and lay off responsible employees and open a channel of complaints about recruitment discrimination.

Victoria Wang, a 29-year-old Henan girl who works at a law firm in Beijing, said she was rarely discriminated against, but found the situation to be more pronounced in required jobs. low. When looking for a babysitter, Wang was surprised that someone advised her not to hire Ha Nam people, but eventually she still recruited a hard-working person from this province.

The Hangzhou case is a rare case where the judiciary seeks to overcome regional prejudices in China, in part because it has no clear anti-discrimination laws, making it difficult for people to initiate lawsuits. The case is based on this reason, Lu Jiefeng, associate professor of law at Beijing International Business and Economics University, explained.

However, people have recently protested more fiercely, using the reason of gender discrimination and sexual orientation to file a lawsuit. Associate Professor Lu said these cases often receive support from lawyers serving the public interest and nonprofit organizations. However, according to Yan's defense lawyer, the amount of compensation won in these cases is usually small.

Zhang Yuan, an economics professor at Fudan University, Shanghai, said prejudice against Henan people was part of the consequence of uneven development across regions in China, when most of its resources were concentrated in big cities. The expert added that in richer cities, migrants from Ha Nam often do "maid" jobs that locals do not want.

"People who know nothing about Ha Nam have no right to defame our great homeland. I feel sad and angry when I know that the psychology of discrimination exists in this country," said one Weibo user. Yan's case lawsuit in Hangzhou.

Kevin Wu, an employee at a chemical company in Hangzhou, quipped himself when referring to the absurdity of discrimination. "I'm from Henan. We're all lying," he joked.