Tuesday, August 29,2006 @ 2:20am
Foxconn sues reporters over iPod story
Apple's iPod manufacturing partner has filed a lawsuit against two reporters for their story on poor working conditions at an iPod manufacturing facility in China. Foxconn has sued the reporter and the managing editor for 30 million yuan or $3.77 million, alleging that the report was false and that it damaged the Foxconn's reputation. The story on substandard working conditions was run in the China Business News about four days after Britain's Daily Mail ran a similar story alleging poor working conditions in Foxconn's mainland factories. It prompted an investigation by Apple as well as made headlines around the industry. In reponse to the Foxconn lawsuit, the Shanghai Daily reports that a Chinese court has frozen the personal assets of the reporter and an editor at the Shanghai newspaper, including their apartments, a car and bank accounts.
Although both had received notice of the asset freeze, they were not given details on the lawsuit, according to the report. The China Business News told the publication that it "stands firmly behind its journalists and will bear all possible consequences in this case."
"The company also filed a lawsuit against the journalists, seeking 20 million yuan from Wang and 10 million yuan from Weng," according to the ShanghaiDaily.com. "The case is the biggest of its kind on the Chinese mainland in terms of the size of the compensation claim." Foxconn, the trade name of Taiwan-based information technology manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is owned by Terry Guo, one of Taiwan's richest men.
According to The Shanghai Daily, Wang's report claimed that most employees in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory worked more than 12 hours a day and earned only about 1,000 yuan a month. It also alleged that employees had to stand for long hours at their jobs and were not allowed to talk to others.
After performing their own internal investigation, both Apple and Foxconn denied many of substandard working condition claims but did report some violations of Apple's code of conduct, but said that they were working to address the issues; however, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has criticized Apple's report, because it was not independently verified.
Apple is also reportedly considering Foxconn as a third manufacturer for its laptops, as demand continues to outstrip production.