Samsung Finally Reaches Settlement Deal with Sickened Factory Workers

A decade-long standoff between South Korean technology manufacturer Samsung and a group of former employees has finally come to an end, according to multiple reports over the weekend. The settlement between Samsung and Banolim—a group that’s been representing ex-Samsung workers and their families—was reportedly reached a few weeks ago but is just now being publicized. It relates to a highly-publicized case of poor factory working conditions that resulted in a range of illnesses, miscarriages, child cancer, and workers developing (and ultimately succumbing to) leukemia and brain tumors.

According to the settlement, Samsung has agreed to compensate those workers, or the families of workers who’ve seen their loved ones pass as a result of working in the LCD and chip factories dating as far back as 1984. The compensation goes up as high as 150 million won ($132,000) for those who developed leukemia.

Samsung’s President of the Device Solutions division Kinam Kim, in a statement cited by the Associated Press, acknowledged that the company had failed to “sufficiently manage health threats” at its chip and LCD manufacturing plants, and offered a “sincere apology” to the former workers and families who suffered as a result of the company’s shortcomings.