Family of brain-damaged worker takes Foxconn to court in China

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - The father of a Foxconn worker left brain-damaged by a factory accident in southern China took the company to court on Tuesday, in a case that heaps more attention on the labour practices of Apple's largest contract manufacturer.

The case involves Mr Zhang Tingzhen, a 26-year-old engineer who had nearly half his brain surgically removed after surviving an electric shock a year ago.

His plight came to light after Reuters reported that Taiwan firm Foxconn sent telephone text messages to his family telling them it would cut off funding for his treatment and other expenses if they did not remove him from hospital in Shenzhen city and submit him for a disability assessment 70km away in Huizhou, where the company says he was hired.

But his father, Mr Zhang Guangde, is contesting that and says his son was hired in Shenzhen, not Huizhou, where wages and compensation levels are substantially lower than in Shenzhen.