The Taiwanese employer of a young Chinese man who killed himself after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype has agreed to pay compensation to his family, a company official said yesterday.
Sun Danyong (孫丹勇), 25, jumped from his high-rise apartment in southern China last week after officials of Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) questioned him about the whereabouts of the iPhone model that was in his possession.
Sun was responsible for sending the device to US-based Apple Inc, which contracts with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of electronics.
Sun alleged he was beaten and abused by Hon Hai security personnel, who denied it.
Sun’s suicide cast unwelcome attention on Apple’s culture of secrecy, which tries to create a big pre-launch buzz about products and upgrades. Apple is also a constant target of prying journalists, customers and competitors who want an early peek at its gadgets.
A Hon Hai official in Taipei said yesterday the company would pay Sun’s parents a lump sum of 360,000 yuan (US$52,600), plus 30,000 yuan every year as long as either of them remains alive.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, Hon Hai apologized for the incident and suspended the security chief who headed the Sun investigation. The chief admitted he grabbed Sun once by the shoulder but denied beating him.
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