Teacher fired over cat's appearance during online class in China; wins Rs 4.7 lakh in lawsuit

In Guangzhou city of China, an art teacher was fired because of her pet cat's repeated appearance during online classes. The teacher, identified as Luo was taking the online class in June and her cat had jumped into the camera's view five times.

She was fired by her employer, an education tech company, stating that the her cat's repeated appearance had harmed the teacher's "image".

The company also alluded to other past instances wherein the teacher had showed up 10 minutes late for class, while also suggesting that she was engaging in other "non-teaching" activities during her lectures. The teacher later challenged the decision during arbitration and the employer refused to comply with the order and even went to the extent of denying her compensation for unfair dismissal. The teacher had won a payout worth Rs 47 lakh payout under the unfair dismissal case.


The ed tech company had alleged that the cat's appearance was in violation of a clause in the teacher's rulebook, which prohibits non-academic activities such as chatting, eating in class and internet browsing among other things.

The teacher however argued that her cat's appearance did not interfere with the class.

Judge Liao Yajing of the Guangzhou Tianhe People’s Court, who presided over the case, ruled in favor of the teacher, stating that employers shouldn't be "too demanding", especially when their staff is working from home during the Covid pandemic.

The teacher also further stated that the employer's rules should not only comply with laws but should also be reasonable. The teacher was awarded $6,000 in compensation.