A HIV-positive man in southern China’s Guangdong province has lost his labor arbitration case on job discrimination against HIV carriers.

The case, marking Guangdong’s first arbitration on discrimination against HIV carriers, was opened on June 12 at the Guangzhou arbitration commission. According to the plaintiff Ah Ming (pseudonym), the commission overruled his claim on Wednesday and said it is valid for the clause to stipulate HIV carriers be isolated for treatment.

Ah Ming filed the arbitration case against his employer, a local State-run public institution, in April after he was ordered to quit his job because he was found to have an HIV infection. The 27-year-old man had demanded to resume his job as he regarded the company’s order to be illegal.

During the arbitration, the company argued that Ah Ming was working as a food inspector who often used sharp tools like scissors, which required high health standards. Hence, the isolation order is legit. It also complies with the regulation on infectious disease prevention and control, according to a press release sent to the People’s Daily Online.

However, Ah Ming’s lawyer Qiu Hengyu, argued that the regulation has clearly violated its higher level laws on infectious disease and HIV/AIDS, as both stipulate that HIV-positive individuals must enjoy equal rights to employment.

Ah Ming has decided to appeal and he will also ask the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), which issued the regulation, to explain reasons to require HIV-positive individuals be treated in quarantine.