Chinese woman sacked for talking back to her boss

BEIJING, Sep 7 (Reuters) A Chinese woman is suing her former employer after falling victim to the company policy of firing staff who contradict their boss three times, local media reported.

HWA-1 Enterprise Co Ltd, a light industrial manufacturer based in China's southeastern port city of Xiamen, sacked a woman surnamed Ni for refusing to pay fines she incurred for talking back to superiors, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, citing a local newspaper.

The company's policy held that a ''first contradiction of superiors'' would incur a fine of 30 yuan (4 dollars), a second would incur 100 yuan, and a third would warrant dismissal, the agency said.

Ni incurred a 30 yuan fine after taking umbrage with her factory supervisor for reprimanding her for not filling in a form.

''The factory head told me that, according to company rules, no matter whether management is right or wrong, employees are not allowed to contradict them and must obey,'' Xinhua quoted Ni as saying.

Ni was then threatened with a 100 yuan fine for refusing to pay the first fine, and was sacked after she threatened to report her supervisor to the company's human resource's department.

The factory's supervisor, surnamed Cao, said it was his legal right to sack Ni.

''The company can terminate the contract of employees who seriously breach labour discipline or the company's rules,'' Xinhua quoted Cao as saying.

REUTERS ARB ND0910