Is Foxconn Firing Suicidal Employees? Worker Claims He Was Fired Over Suicide Misunderstanding

Zhang Moujun, a 27-year-old employee at a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, doesn’t sleep very well, so like many others who suffer insomnia, he takes sleeping pills. He told Southern Metropolis Daily that on the night of April 2, he popped a couple extra ones because the regular dosage wasn’t working. Unfortunately, a friend saw him doing it, and reported to the company that he seemed to attempting suicide. He was taken to the hospital where his stomach was pumped. Then, the next day, he was fired.

The termination notice Zhang says he was given by Foxconn reads:

While at work, [Zhang] exhibited the following behaviors or facts: threatening the company, disturbing the normal management of the company.

When contacted by the Southern Metropolis Daily, a Foxconn representative said that the company could not confirm or deny Zhang’s story because the relevant people are on vacation for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.

Foxconn (which manufactures Apple and much of the rest of the tech world’s gadgets) has long been dogged by reports of employee suicide. Back in 2010 the company suffered a rash of suicides that brought the company into the public eye. More recently, last week the company was forced to deny rumors of yet another jumping suicide attempt after a report claimed that a female employee had jumped off the roof following a dispute at the company’s Shenzhen complex.

Given that, a cynic might be inclined to suspect that the company is intentionally firing employees who are thought to be considering or have attempted suicide to save itself the bad press. After all, whether or not Zhang really was trying to kill himself, it’s hard to see how that amounts to “threatening the company.” Moreover, it seems like if the company really believed Zhang was depressed enough to be suicidal, firing him is probably not the best way to improve his state of mind.

It will be interesting to see what Foxconn says about this case once the company is back up and running after the break. But if the cynical interpretation of Zhang’s firing proves true, it could cast doubts about whether or not the company has really improved things for workers at all. Perhaps it has just been firing depressed and disgruntled employees before they get a chance to act. I hope that is not the case.

(Southern Metropolis Daily via Sina Tech)