Chinese American wins discrimination suit in Taiwan

A Chinese-American teacher has successfully sued and won a case against a school in Taiwan for discrimination due to his ethnicity.

The male teacher, identified only as Chang, applied for a teaching position at a kindergarten in Taipei and was rejected because of his Chinese heritage. Chang is a qualified teacher and a native English speaker. Upon discovering his ethnic background, the school dismissed him based on his ethnicity and opted to hire a less-qualified Caucasian teacher for the position.

After recording a telephone conversation with the school, Chang filed a complaint against them with the Labour Affairs Department. The New Taipei City Employment Discrimination Committee investigated his case and found that the employer had acted with bias and they were fined NT $300,000, which is the minimum sum for labour disputes violating discrimination.

Article 46 of the Employment Services Act state that it is illegal for kindergartens to hire foreign teachers unless applicants fit specified conditions outlined in Article 48 and 51. These conditions include permanent residency in Taiwan, marriage to a Taiwanese spouse, having lineal relatives with a registered residence or refugee status, the officials said.

Chang has lineal relatives living in Taiwan and therefore, he is legal to work in a kindergarten.

Photo: Film Maker Chen Ming-Yu on flickr