He Zongying, a female technician employed at a FinDreams Battery factory in Wuhan, a subsidiary of Chinese EV giant BYD, suffered verbal abuse and threats from a male colleague. She immediately reported the issue to the company and also contacted the police. But, to her surprise, the company initially refused to hand over the surveillance footage of the incident to authorities, provided her with no clear path to file a complaint, and then chose to fire her rather than pursue her claim.
Meanwhile, the official union tasked with protecting her rights remained silent. Thus, despite the company’s stated commitment to corporate responsibility, its mechanisms for resolving claims of harassment proved not only ineffective but even resulted in the victim being punished by the company for raising the issue in the first place.
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[Later on], she was called into a meeting with two male colleagues from the factory and a female staff member from Human Resources. But, instead of addressing her complaint, the meeting resulted in He being written up for two violations of company policy. To add insult to injury, one of these violations even stated that she had humiliated and verbally abused the man who had harassed her. She expressed her confusion, pointing out that the incident was on tape and asking why her attempt to stop his harassment was now being characterised as “humiliation and abuse.” In response, her supervisor merely stated that she could have handled the situation differently.
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The second penalty He Zongying received was for exhibiting “improper conduct” and engaging in “repeated misbehaviour within a three-month period.” In addition to the initial altercation, this penalty also involved He allegedly leaving her workstation without authorisation on other occasions.
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Over the following week or so, she was instructed to await further notice and was told that she needed not come into work. When she was finally instructed to return, however, she found that she had been removed from all technical tasks and instead given janitorial duties. Meanwhile, all the days she had been forced to take off by the company had been deducted from her salary.
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BYD Contradicts its own Corporate Responsibility Policies, Union Offers No Support
In its labour rights protection policy, FinDreams Battery states that employees are valuable assets and offers various channels through which employees can provide feedback. The company’s 2023 “Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Report” even outlines specific complaint mechanisms and mental health support services offered to workers. The parent firm BYD has also stated in its own corporate responsibility statements that it “firmly opposes workplace violence and harassment.”
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[Edit typo.]