Foxconn Officlal Disciplined Over iPhone Suicide

In the wake of a story about a Foxconn worker committing suicide after an iPhone prototype he was responsible for was lost, Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai has suspended a security official.

Sun Tanyong, 25, an employee at Foxconn, reportedly committed suicide by jumping off his dormitory roof on July 16th after one of the 16 iPhone prototypes he was assigned to mail went missing. He had reportedly been subjected to rather heavy-handed tactics and searches.

Bloomberg reports that the official has been identified only by the surname "Gu."

In a statement, Hon Hai said it offered condolences to Sun’s family, and noted that Foxconn did not authorize anyone to violate the law.

Apple commented on the matter on Tuesday, with a spokesperson saying:

“We are saddened by the tragic loss of this employee. We require that our suppliers treat all workers with dignity and respect.”

However, many know that what companies that outsource to Asia and other low-wage countries require is not necessarily what they get. It's also the case that what some companies say they require is not really what they require.

Yet another reason why I don't own a cellphone.

Hmm... I guess that's one way to avoid depression and suicide. Hehe... just kidding. :) Pretty tragic all around though.

It's too bad the security official had to get "disciplined".

It reminds me of the time they wouldn't let me drive for two weeks after I willfully ran over all those people.

I have the strangest urge to listen to King Crimson.

Man i saw this on Engadget, and can't believe all the jokes people are cracking about this story. Someone just died, and some loser is making jokes about him. If they happened in the USA, *** would be going down.

There's no reason for the language squid, especially an anti gay remark... On the topic though, I'm sickened by the fact that they disciplined security, he was probably threatened by the company if he did nothing. This is going to be a story that will drag on and we probably won't hear the end of it. Gizmodo has an interesting view of the topic and I would recommend a read over there.

My bad. I was really pissed. I'll edit that out.