Foxconn increases compensation to family of worker who committed suicide
By Donald Melanson 
posted July 28th 2009 1:21PM
posted July 28th 2009 1:21PM
posted July 28th 2009 1:21PM
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Well then it all works out in the end... right?
Wait a minute, a crazy employee goes and commits suicide and his family gets compensation? I should go adopt every patients in a mental institution and have than working on skyscrapers.
@monkeywithglasses: Apparently you missed the part where they illegally searched his house, kept him in solitary confinement and tortured him. So I guess if you find them a job where the employer does all of that to them then yes, you deserve some compensation.
if there is no evidence, why is foxconn doing more than they usually do for this particular employee? sure there is no footage, but that does not mean there is no secret interrogation room or something like that. are you not thinking about that? there seemed like there is a LOT more, but unfortunately, we may never know the truth.
the compensation part clearly contrast from their claim of 'no illegal activity', IMHO
@Paul, Nokia design and make their phones on their own(Yes thier own factories) dumb ass
It seems to me that this story is getting more attention than it deserves only because it involves a certain fruit labeled product prototype...........
@Monkey. China is not exclusive in torture/inappropriate behavior of suspects or staff. Even here in the USA there are cases all the time of an adrenaline pumped cop getting out of hand (cases are dropped, compensation awarded, etc). And I'm not talking about GitMo either. We all know video tape is not proof, especially if its not a continuous spool. People talk before and after the tape, that's when the threats are stated and the thumbscrews applied.
All of the "confessions" of the arrested protesters in Iran are obtained this way.
I think it's illogical they are paying compensation for his suicide to his family. It just doesn't make sense especially considering how many people commit suicide everyday (pretty sure stress from work is a big cause). It would seem the main reason they are paying out is because of negative press. They need to look like the good guy and this is simply another tool of marketing.
@Bill
Foxconn is just doing standard Chinese practice. In China people can usually only have one kid, and having children is like obsessively important in Chinese culture.
So when people got killed in Xinjiang a couple weeks ago the families of everyone who died all got $30,000 each because the "government failed" to protect the people. In this case Foxconn "failed" to stop this guy from killing himself, etc.
Honestly when people kill themselves they probably weren't in the best of mental health-if you're a happy person you don't kill yourself even if they threated the heck out of you over the lost iPhone or were going to fire you or whatever
Seriously this is just standard practice in China. It might be less communist now than it used to be but there's still a sense that when someone dies their family should be taken care of financially.
See: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009xinjiangriot/2009-07/21/content_8454002.htm
And that's not the only case either-in almost any situation where things have lead to deaths, or even in natural disasters or whatever families usually get heavy (compared to the income in China) financial support from the government. It's just how things work there.
Keep in mind that the government there manages about 50% of the wealth the country generates via a complex system similar to the taxes you know but different enough that it would take a whole article to explain. But basically the government tends to everyone's "savings" in a giant pool. And when disaster strikes it's basically distributing this pooled wealth as necessary. So while it's capitalist the country is still rather communist as far as the social safety net goes.
In this case there probably was government and social and media pressure on Foxconn to take care of the family since their only kid is now dead. Even if he was mentally unstable socially speaking it would be super, duper, douchey if Foxconn basically let his parents then starve to death after their only kid (and likely retirement income source) killed himself.
Thieves get paid in China/Japan (same thing). I'm moving there.
I am glad to see we have a Chinese law expert and PI here with"Mark". Oh wait, the newspaper said something so it must be true. That's how you American's got stuck with Erkel as your president.
that's smart giving them lots of money, that way no asking any questions like did you torture my son?
I'm not exactly sure why a company owes anyone something when an employee commits suicide.......
In any clean cut case, the company wont. Foxconn, however, is showing complicity through its actions. Its not helping its case at all.
when company torture employee which commits suicide because of it they owe them a lot.
This is also China. They will say they are going to pay them to the new media and then give them one check and no more.
People and workers don't have right there. This is just to save face for Apple and media reporting on this.
I don't think it saves face for Apple because I don't see any other connection other than they are a customer and the tech lost one of their prototypes. Foxconn manufactures MoBo's for Windoze machines also, but it's not Intel, AMD or M$ being pointed at by fanbois.
Yes, it was an Apple prototype, yes they are paranoid about leaks. But Foxconn is more interested in keeping Apple as a customer than saving face for Apple. The payoff is about Apple telling them to clean up their house and fix their shit.
Oh no... I can't find my TV remote.
Well it was nice knowing you...
Riddle me this?!
If this person had a history of misplacing valuable prototypes.. Why Pre-tell was this person promoted to a higher promotion to be working on one of the worlds most important products?
the worlds most important product? does it feed the poor? rescue cats off trees, cure diseases?
@nicknackpattywack:
There's an app for that
He wasn't working on the Pre -tel he was working on the iPhone. But it's cool you think the Pre is so important.
@nicknackpattywack - There's an app for that.
Money makes everything better.... I wonder if he misplaced the Apple Tablet :P (THAT’S WHY THEY KILLED HIM!)
this now sounds like a complete cover up to me.
are you saying it was murder?
Wouldn't surprise me in China!
I would say I have to agree with him. We all know this guy was hastily cremated after his death correct? It also sounds like Foxconn is trying to do as little as it can to shut this family up. There is also the matter of the security personnel who is in police custody. Finally, there is footage of his interrogation after loosing the device which showed NO evidence of beating but who's to say it didn't happen?
I don't think this story requires gross speculation to see that there may have been some foul play. I'm sure there is some type of mental screening for people who are trusted with prototype devices. Sane people don't commit suicide.
I'm sorry, I have to pull occam's razor out on this one.. Dude didn't jump off the roof, he got pushed. And no, I don't have any proof, just makes the most sense.
@kjb, and it would surprise you here?
@matt, obviously you're the expert here...
@ Odog4ever - I don't think you've got the point of Occam's Razor.
"Do not multiply entities unnecessarily" which often gets translated to "the simplest solution is often the correct one".
By saying that he was pushed off the roof, you have to now say, there was someone else there to push him off the roof. Who was that person? Why were they there? Adding in this new person (the pusher) is adding in another entity, it is *precisely* what Occam's Razor is trying to get you to avoid doing.
The "razor" refers to the act of pruning away unnecessary assumptions and unnecessary entities (unnecessary in the sense that, the observed outcome - guy dead on ground outside building - can still be achieved without them) until you have the simplest explanation.
In this case, suicide requires one person, and their motivation for their action. That's it. Whereas, murder requires two people at least, it requires one of them to have a motivation for murder, and it also requires further assumptions about the murderer's methods and subsequent actions.
So in all cases where the observed outcome could be the result of suicide or murder, Occam's Razor will tell you that suicide is the simplest explanation (it requires the least amount of assumptions and extra entities) and therefore is "probably the correct one" as the saying goes.
"meager compensation of $44,000"
How much is that in China?
Obviously you have to calculate for the economic stand point. $44,000 might be a lot for one person and you can buy a house for $44,000 in some places. But it can be pocket change for someone if you pay property taxes of $35,000 a year (in some places).
Let's see my grandma's retirement salary is a little over 1000 yuan or about $146 a month. It's just enough to buy food she needs.
usually old granny with 1000 RMB/month income(that's not low income for retired people) dont have to have much rent, food doesnt cost 1000RMB in china per month if you cook stuff yourself, it's the medical expense that's problematic for old people
In the City where this young man used to live in. an average 1,000square feet condo costs about 200,000USD. 44,000 dollars is nothing.
@Jun
The city where he worked and the city where his family lives are 2 completely different places. His hometown is likely in another province, and guaranteed to be a much cheaper place to live than Shenzhen. Keep in mind that the average yearly income in China is only $6000 USD. As for the housing prices in the city where he works, you are comparing Beverly Hills to Compton here (maybe not the best example as I've never been to LA). Shenzhen is a city of 12 million people. Foxconn has 600,000 employees and the factory is far, far away from Luohu (downtown Shenzhen) where those prices you speak of come from. Prices are much, much lower out there.
Foxconn are obviously trying to make it look like they actually care, when in actuality they're just sad they got caught and are getting a bad rep because of this.
Do companies normally compensate people when they're guilty of nothing?
The compensation is surely admission that somthing happened to the poor guy.
Yes. Companies will spend money to improve their image with present and potential customers and stockholders. Something did happen to that guy; he killed himself.
Actually, yes companies regularly do compensate families. Most recent example in the U.S. is USAir paying thousands to the passengers on flight 1549 even though it sure wasn't the airline's fault that geese happened to be in their plane's flightpath. It sure *was* the airline's doing to have an excellent pilot in the cockpit who saved everyone's lives, but the airline paid out anyway.
I'm not saying this necessarily has anything to do with Foxconn, but it does answer your specific question.
whipping up a settlement to cover your boat
There's an app for that
The settlement is for PR purposes. It's to stop the parents and girlfriend from disclosing the real details of the case. The torture, what he was working on, etc.
Bingo
they threw him off the roof
dude it's china and foxxconn. they can say they'll pay them $400k a year and then just not bother to.
they'll say whatever they feel like till the media forgets and then the family will be told to frak off.
lets be honest. how many people out there think this is terrible but will still go buy whatever new macbook/iphone apple/foxconn sells them.
how exactly is that different from here
Funny how it works when there are good news regarding a Taiwanese company, people will always distinguished it from mainland China, but when there are negative news about a Taiwanese company, no one will mention the word "Taiwanese."
Somebody reads about an alleged beating, which was denied by the other party, and then the word TORTURE gets tossed out like it's a fact. Keith Olbermann clones squawking in unison.
hell if we say that we dont torture and hten do it, that leaves the door open for every country... especially the less hypocritical or straight-laced countries