A labor arbitration committee in the city of Qingdao will not force a local kindergarten to rehire a teacher who says that he was fired for being gay.

The teacher brought the case to the committee in September, claiming that he had been dismissed from his job after parents of students at a previous school he had worked at informed his current employer about his sexuality. For its part, the kindergarten claimed that the teacher had voluntarily resigned following complaints from parents.

Soon, the case made national headlines with the teacher, given the pseudonym Ming Jue, posting a photo of himself holding up a sign in front of his face that read: “I teach my kids to be honest, so I cannot lie. I am gay.”

However, last week, the committee decided not to acknowledge at all Ming’s claim of being fired for his sexuality, though it did order the school to pay Ming six months salary for failing to actually sign an employment contract with him.

Afterward, Ming told the Gay Star News that the result was “relatively fair. While he expressed his disappointment that there was no clear indication in the decision against companies discriminating against gay workers, Ming said that he was happy that the case got so much attention and hoped that it would encourage other gay people in China to stand up for their rights.

Though homosexuality is not a crime in China, there is currently no legislation on the books that prevents employers from discriminating against their employees based on their sexual orientation.

Several years ago, a transgender man in Guizhou province who was fired from his job lost a similar case at a local labor arbitration committee, only to then win a limited victory in court several months later. It’s not clear at this time if Ming will also pursue the matter with higher courts.