Apple iPhone Employee Dies Suddenly After Working 12-Hour Shifts, Seven Days A Week

A 26-year-old Apple iPhone worker from China died suddenly after allegedly working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, his family is claiming.

When Tian Fulei was found dead in his worker’s dorm in Pegatron near Shanghai back in February, the coroner said he had passed away as a result of “sudden death,” but an autopsy was never carried out.

Tian’s untimely death comes following recent reports that Apple in China pushes its workers almost to the point of collapse, in order to ensure it gets maximum output from them.

The dead man’s sister, Tian Zhoumei, told reporters that her brother had been totally healthy until the day he died.

The family of the deceased was given around $15,000 as a gesture from Apple China but the family doesn’t feel Apple have gone far enough to compensate them, and stop such an incident happening again in the future,

Mrs. Tian said, “When we heard the news [of his death] we didn’t believe it. We thought they were joking, but nobody picked up his cell phone so we went to Shanghai. We demanded an autopsy but the police and the company said we’d have to pay for it ourselves. We’re from the countryside, we can’t afford it.”

The family grew suspicious when Apple refused to show them Tian’s work hour record.

As Mrs. Tian said to reporters, “We heard a lot from him about overtime. The company is definitely at fault. He walked in there a healthy man…as a registered employee he had to pass a full body test. He last called on the morning of February 1…I don’t remember him saying anything about being sick but he said he worked an extra two to two-and-a-half hours every day. So, around 12 hours a day.”

An ex-Apple worker who wished to remain nameless, also spoke to reporters regarding the required hours at Pegatron, “It’s definitely mandatory…on average it’s about 80-90 hours overtime a month. Most people make their living by working overtime. I know someone who did more than 200 hours overtime a month.”

When Pegatron was contacted by reporters regarding the case, it refused to provide Tian’s work log and said that his death had nothing to do with the conditions at the factory.