A company in China has sparked discussion online after confining an employee to a "small dark room" for four days in a bid to make him resign. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the incident came to light not via the employee but the company, Guangzhou Duoyi Network Co. Ltd, after they challenged a court ruling on the case. The firm published a full court document online, openly disagreeing with a ruling made in May by a district-level court. While the court ordered the firm to pay compensation to Mr Liu, the company responded by saying that there are "many problems" with the labour laws.
According to SCMP, the story unfolded in December 2022 when the employee, Liu Linzhu, found that he could not log into the company's computer or use his entry pass. This happened after he had a lengthy conversation with the firm regarding his resignation. The company reportedly told Mr Liu he was required to participate in "training" and took him to a room on a different floor from his usual workstation.
As per the court documents, the room was completely dark and had no power supply. It was devoid of any computers and coworkers, and its only furniture was a table and a chair. Over four days, even though Mr Liu was allowed to leave the room "freely", he was assigned no tasks and his mobile phone was also confiscated.
It was on the fifth day, after Mr Liu's wife reported the company's treatment of her husband to the police, that an official notice laying him off was issued. In the letter, the firm, to avoid having to pay compensation, claimed that Mr Liu was fired because he had violated the company policies. The firm accused him of viewing nude images and browsing unrelated websites during working hours. However, according to Mr Liu, who works as a game art editor, the pictures he saw were necessary for his job.
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The lower court agreed with Mr Liu and ruled in favour of him. It decided that Mr Liu's confinement to the "dark room" violated the Labour Contract Law, which requires employers to give workers a safe and healthy workplace. It ordered the company to pay the employee $52,200 in compensation for their actions.
However, the company responded by saying that "there are many problems with the labour laws which severely hinder economic development and are arbitrarily enforced by judges who distort the facts."
The company has made no further comments on the case, but social media users were quick to react to the incident. According to SCMP, netizens expressed astonishment at the company's strict regulations prohibiting employees from carrying mobile phones at work, communicating privately among themselves or engaging in social activities together after work.
"You are the only company I have seen that dares to place your own policies above the labour laws," wrote one user. "Who else would dare to work at this company now?" commented another.
