Enforcing Equal Employment Opportunities in China
In December 2001, Jiang Tao, a law student at Sichuan University, read an advertisement, which indicated that the Chengdu Branch of People's Bank of China (PBOC), was hiring new staff members.2 The advertisement contained a minimum height requirement: male candidates were required to be at least 168cm (5ft 6in) tall and females 155cm (5ft 3in).3 Such height requirements are very common in China; thus, many qualified applicants for government positions are rejected because they are too short. Mr. Jiang is only 165 cm (5ft 5in) and therefore ineligible for the job. Mr. Jiang sought to challenge PBOC's hiring practice on the basis that it was employment discrimination.4 However, he faced one important legal constraint: neither constitutional nor national statutory provisions in China specifically prohibit height discrimination in workplace. Despite the lack of direct protection, Mr. Jiang filed suit under Article 33 of the 1993 Constitution of the People's Republic of China, which declares all citizens "equal before the law."5 Mr. Jiang alleged that the minimum height requirement violated his constitutional right to equal treatment before the law.6 Specifically, he claimed that "[t]he defendant should assume corresponding legal liabilities" and "asked the court to confirm the administrative action containing 'height discrimination' as illegal."' Mr. Jiang's case is significant not only because it was the first to