Chimei Innolux Says Contract Worker in China May Have Committed Suicide

Chimei Innolux Corp., the liquid- crystal display affiliate of Foxconn Technology Group, said a worker at its panel-module assembly line in Foshan, southern China, appeared to have committed suicide.

The man, who was not directly employed by Chimei Innolux, was contracted through an outsourcing company, spokesman Eddie Chen said by phone yesterday. The worker joined the company recently, he said without providing further details.

Foxconn Group, which makes Apple Inc. iPhones and Sony Corp. games consoles, doubled salaries of production workers in Shenzhen and opened its largest factory to the media after at least 10 suicides within the group sparked criticism that it runs a sweatshop. The last reported suicide before today’s Foshan incident was on May 26 when a 23 year-old Foxconn Group worker fell to his death in Shenzhen.

Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Group, apologized in May for being unable to prevent the deaths. The suicides were probably caused by personal problems and exacerbated by compensation packages offered to the families of victims, Gou said that month.

Chimei Innolux, based in Miaoli, northern Taiwan, became Taiwan’s largest LCD maker through the March merger of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., Innolux Display Corp. and TPO Displays Corp. The company, which supplies panels and partially assembled screens for use in TVs, computer monitors and electronics products, had 24,197 workers as of March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

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