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kneeling sisters in Shenzhen to sue
By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-26 05:44
SHENZHEN: The former employee of an American-owned factory, who hit the
headlines last week when pictures of her and her two sisters kneeling outside
the factory gates were posted on the Internet, is preparing to sue the company.
Three women knelt
outside a Shenzhen factory gate on October 13, 2005.
[sina] |
Wang Lun, 22, worked at the Astec
electronics factory in Shenzhen, owned by US company Emerson Network Power, but
left the company this September.
Last week pictures of the three sisters kneeling at the gate of the factory
in an attempt to win 80,000 yuan (US$9,860) medical compensation for a mental
disorder Wang Lun says she developed as a result of working for the company,
caused quite a stir in cyberspace.
Now, with begging at the gates having failed, Wang is considering turning to
the courts.
However, legal experts say the chances of her winning the case are slim
unless she can prove the disorder is linked to her job.
Wang Juan, Wang Lun's older sister, told reporters recently that Astec
violated regulations when handling her sister's compensation.
According to Wang senior, she was forced to endorse her younger sister's
resignation letter, otherwise Astec said it would not pay any compensation.
She also claimed that Astec did not pay for social insurance, which includes
medical insurance and industrial injury insurance, for her sister.
Although Astec met all Wang Lun's medical bills, her older sister believes
she would have got more compensation if she had been covered by social
insurance.
According to Emerson, in June, after working at Astec for four months, Wang
Lun was found to have a medical problem.
In September, she resigned, and signed the resignation letter along with her
sister.
The company says that when Wang quit, she had already received three months
of medical treatment and doctors deemed her recovered and able to return to
work.
In response to media inquiries, in its latest statement Emerson insists all
Astec employees are enrolled in the government medical insurance scheme.
"Astec confirms that all of the factory's employees have insurance coverage,
either through the government programme or through Astec's own insurance plan
that provides even better coverage of medical costs," the statement said.
However, when questioned yesterday, Emerson did not explain to China Daily
why Wang Lun's medical bill was paid directly by the company.
The statement said Astec paid all of Wang's medical bill through its own
insurance programme.
Two legal experts China Daily interviewed expressed their support for Astec,
saying that because there is so far no proof the disease is occupational, the
company has fulfilled its obligations.
As long as they paid the amount of compensation required by law, Astec had
the right to fire Wang, the experts said, because doctors deemed her recovered
and able to work again. 
(China Daily 10/26/2005 page3)
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