Apple Sends Investigators to Shanghai After Employee Death

Apple is once again taking the heat over employee conditions at their overseas factories. Last month a 15-year-old factory worker at Pegatron Corp, in Shanghai died of pneumonia. Apple says that they are investigating and have sent medical experts to investigate.

So far there has been no evidence that the death of employee of the result of working conditions. Labour rights group, China Labor Watch, said the worker’s pre-employment physical exam on September 4 showed he was in good health.

According to a Pegatron spokesperson, they were unaware of the actual age of the employee as he had applied for the position using the ID of his 21-year-old cousin.

“Pegatron has strict measures in place to verify workers’ ages before and after they are hired, and we work with health and safety experts to provide a safe working environment for each and every worker,” Pegatron said in a statement.

The same factory had three other employee deaths reported earlier in the year, however the deaths were caused by medical conditions unrelated to the factory working conditions.

In 2010 a rash of employee suicides at their supplier Foxconn, led Apple to commission the Fair Labor Association to monitor their supplier factories. To ensure that working conditions are satisfactory and that child labor laws are met.

Originally posted 2013-12-13 14:54:19.