Family seeks Foxconn benefits

Employee fell from ladder while working on light at Shenzhen plant

The father of a Foxconn engineer whose son was paralyzed in a workplace accident has accused the electronics giant of trying to cheat his family out of compensation.

Zhang Tingzhen, 25, fell from a ladder while fixing a light at the company's factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Oct 26, 2011.

His colleague, Diao Liangyou, said Zhang suffered an electric shock and was not wearing protective gloves.

Surgeons at Shenzhen Longhua People's Hospital and Shenzhen No 2 People's Hospital had to operate five times to save Zhang's life, removing almost half of his brain.

He is now in a rehabilitation ward at Shenzhen No 2 People's Hospital, and his sister, Zhang Hongling, said he cannot speak or walk.

"He used to be very smart and was an electro-mechanical engineer. He learned computer science by himself," she said on Thursday. "Now he doesn't recognize a simple word."

The family is battling Taiwan-based Foxconn over the accident and compensation. A case has been filed with Shenzhen's Longhua district labor arbitration panel and will be heard on Oct 24.

According to Zhang Guangde, the paralyzed worker's father, the company is saying that his son was employed by its factory in Huizhou, Guangdong, where compensation for an industrial accident is much lower than it is in Shenzhen.

"My son, from the very first day he went to the factory to attend interviews, worked in Shenzhen," said Zhang Guangde, a native of Henan province, who said his son was hired by Foxconn in August last year. "How come they say his employer is in Huizhou?

"As far as I know, many workers at Foxconn have the same problem. They work in Shenzhen but their contracts say their employer is in Huizhou."

Liu Kun, a spokesman for the company, on Thursday denied Zhang Tingzhen had worked at the Shenzhen plant permanently, saying his contract was signed in Huizhou and he had been sent to Shenzhen only as support.

Despite this, he said, Foxconn had agreed to compensate the family according to compensation paid in Shenzhen.

"As a big company, we take workplace injuries very seriously," Liu said. "It's true Zhang was injured at work and was not wearing protective gloves."

Zhang Guangde said he has received no contact from the company. He also accused the company of delaying his son's medical treatment.

"A doctor at Shenzhen No 2 People's Hospital told me that if my son had been rushed to a hospital immediately after he fell, and if the hospital had had the proper equipment and qualifications to treat his condition, he might have needed only several months of hospitalization and would have fully recovered," he said.

"It was almost 90 minutes before my son was sent to Shenzhen Longhua People's Hospital, and nobody has told us why it took such a long time."

He said his son's possessions, including his ID card, social security card and employment contract, have been kept by Foxconn, and the factory managers rejected the family's request to take them back, saying some of the items are missing.

Foxconn paid the family 12,500 yuan ($1,990) a month after the tragedy until July, when the sum was reduced to 11,000 yuan, Zhang Guangde said.

Contact the writers at zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn and huangyuli@chinadaily.com.cn.