The South African Labour Court ruled in favour of reinstating Christine Elhers after she took her employer, Bohler Uddeholm, to court for unfair discrimination and for dismissing her based on her gender identity. Judge Francis not only ruled for reinstatement but ordered the company to backpay Christine the salary she had lost between her dismissal and reinstatement. 

During the trial, the company argued that at the time of her employment, Christine was a man and that their clients and the nature of their product (in the metal industry) required her to be a man. In his article titled Christine, give them hell, Professor Pierre de Vos wrote about the reasons why such arguments don’t stand up in court from a constitutional point of view. 

The outcome of this case set a precedent and a great example for fair and equal employment for South African trans persons.