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A labor dispute in China has drawn attention to the extreme measures taken by a company to force an employee's resignation. Guangzhou Duoyi Network Co., Ltd confined an employee, Liu Linzhu, to a “small dark room” for four days in an effort to make him quit. The incident came to light when the company challenged a court ruling in favor of Liu.
Guangzhou Duoyi Network revealed the details of the case on its official Weibo account, expressing disagreement with a May ruling by a district-level court in Sichuan Province. The court ordered the company's subsidiary in Sichuan to pay Liu 380,000 yuan (US$52,000) in compensation. The company argued, “We believe that there are many problems with the labor laws which severely hinder economic development and are arbitrarily enforced by judges who distort the facts.”
The dispute began in December 2022 when Liu found himself unable to log into the company's computer system or use his entry pass. This followed prolonged negotiations over his resignation. The company told Liu he needed to participate in "training" and took him to a different floor from his usual workspace. The room, devoid of power, colleagues, and computers, contained only a table and chair.
Although Liu was allowed to leave the room freely and go home after work hours, he was assigned no tasks, and his mobile phone was confiscated. On the fifth day, after Liu's wife reported his treatment to the police, the company issued an official notice laying him off.
Guangzhou Duoyi Network claimed the lay-off was due to Liu violating company policies, accusing him of viewing nude images and browsing unrelated websites during working hours. Liu, a game art editor, argued that the images were work-related. The lower court sided with Liu, ruling that his confinement violated the Labour Contract Law, which requires employers to provide proper working conditions.
The company has not commented further on the case. Online observers largely supported the court's decision and expressed astonishment at the company's strict regulations prohibiting employees from carrying mobile phones, communicating privately, or engaging in social activities after work. One commenter noted, "You are the only company I have seen that dares to place your own policies above the labor laws," receiving over 4,000 likes. Another remarked, "Who else would dare to work at this company now?"
Adding to the controversy, the company's CEO, Xu Bo, has been under public scrutiny for his personal life. Xu has nearly 20 sons with various Chinese and European women and is still striving to reach his life goal of having 50 sons. This revelation has stirred public opinion and raised questions about the ethics and values upheld by the company's leadership.
