Freshman sues college for health discrimination

A college freshman has sued his college in Beijing on Thursday after being expelled for the rare blood disorder hemophilia, which was believed to be the first case of rare disease-related discrimination in the education system.

Zheng Qing (pseudonym), 21, a freshman at the China Institute of Industrial Relations, sued his university, demanding that it revoke the dismissal. "This is the first case of education discrimination over rare diseases," his lawyer Wang Qiushi told the Global Times Thursday.

Wang said the lawsuit has been filed in a Haidian district court on Thursday. It remains to be seen whether the court will hear the case.

"It is clearly a case of discrimination. The college is irresponsible," said Zheng's aunt surnamed Zhang.

The university officially expelled Zheng on January 6, about four months after he was "persuaded" to drop out of school in September 2014, Zhang said.

The university declined to comment when reached by the Global Times Thursday.

In a report of the China Education Daily in December, the university quoted a guideline issued by the Ministry of Education in 2003 on physical examinations before enrollment that "universities could refuse the admission of students who have serious blood diseases, and endocrine, metabolic, or rheumatic diseases."

"However, there is no specific definition on seriousness," Wang said, adding that the guideline refers to students who cannot finish their studies or take care of themselves."

The university also pointed out that concealing his disease when he filled out a health form is fraudulent, which violated their admission requirements, Wang said.

"His major [journalism] requires little physical strength, so it is unlikely to affect his studies," Wang noted.

Zheng applied to quit the military training in September since he cannot do strenuous exercises. Several days later the infirmary suggested that he quit school as "he may suffer from hemorrhage at any time," Zhang said. "He completed basic education successfully without suffering any major injuries," Zhang insisted.

Although his mother offered a waiver in September, the university insisted on expelling Zheng, Zhang added.