Foxconn taken to court by brain damaged worker’s family

The father of a man who suffered brain damage during an accident at a Foxconn facility that was making Apple products, has taken the manufacturer to court for its handling of the man's care.

26 year old Zhang Tingzhen was electrocuted in a Foxconn factory accident just over a year ago and ultimately needed to have almost half of his brain removed. His care continued after the operation for some time, but it wasn't long before Foxconn purportedly sent text messages to his father, stating that it would halt paying for his treatment if the family didn't remove him from Shenzhen city hospital and submit him for a disability assessment 43 miles away in Huizhou, where it claims he was hired.

Mr Zhang contests this, saying that he was instead hired in Shenzhen, where wages and compensation for injuries are substantially better.

The implication is clear.

“Our evidence includes hospital correspondences, notice of hospitalization, factory salary slips, colleague declarations, they all point to the time and place of his injury and his employment being in Shenzhen,” said a lawyer for Mr Zhang's father.

Labour activists (via Reuters) have said that it's not an uncommon practice for large corporations to hire workers in low income areas, having them sign poorly compensated contracts, before shipping them off to work in more affluent areas.

KitGuru Says: Apple has recently managed to avoid the level of negative press it received last year over labour practices, but this could turn that trend around. While it isn't directly involved, it will certainly be linked with the case.

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