Chinese woman fired for not fitting uniform claims discrimination

 A Chinese woman, surnamed Tian, created headlines in recent days after claiming her employer let go of her after it could not find a uniform in her size while a plus-size male colleague was allowed to keep working.

According to Feidian Video, the woman from Jilin province has alleged body discrimination after being laid off from her job at a dental hospital at the end of her three-month probation period.

An unidentified staff member at the hospital could be heard responding to Tian's questions in a recording taken by the woman and later posted online. When Tian asked if she was fired for being "too fat to fit into the work uniform," the staff member could be heard replying that it was only partly the reason and alleged that she had been often late to work.

The dental hospital had found a new uniform manufacturer after the regular one couldn't work on a uniform in Tian's size, the staff member further mentioned, adding the new manufacturer was also unable to make a uniform.

The woman wasn't informed of any rules about body shape and uniforms when she joined the hospital last November, she claimed.

Providing further evidence of discrimination against plus-size people, Tian even claimed that a male worker was allowed to keep his job at the dental hospital if his weight dropped below 90 kg before the end of his probation.

The woman's video has drawn the attention of scores of netizens in mainland China, with a number of them agreeing with her that she was dismissed because of discrimination.

Stories about work discrimination in the country have started becoming more common in recent months as younger workers increasingly express reluctance towards accepting poor treatment for the sake of traditional views on showing respect to authority.

A woman in southern China made headlines late last year after quitting her job as a new media specialist after being compelled to clean the toilets. In a separate incident, a woman was called a "mistress" and an "ornament" during a job interview last July after she attempted to negotiate her conditions.