Sun Danyong, a 25-year-old graduate of Harbin Institute of Technology who worked at Foxconn, committed suicide in the early hours of July 16. The incident reportedly stemmed from the loss of an iPhone prototype. On July 13, one of the 16 iPhone prototypes entrusted to Sun for delivery to Apple went missing. Under intense pressure during an investigation by the company's environmental safety department, Sun took his own life.How should professionals handle similar situations? How should companies resolve such issues? Legal advisors and workplace experts offer their insights. Companies: Searches Cannot Be Conducted Even with Employee Consent While it remains unclear whether Foxconn physically assaulted or detained Sun, the company admitted to searching him. On July 16, Sun allegedly "voluntarily" signed a "search consent form."It is reported that Sun Dan Yong agreed to allow the company's security department to inspect his living quarters to clarify that he had not violated the company's "Intellectual Property Confidentiality Agreement"—specifically, by bringing intellectual property, drawings, product briefs, and materials covered by the agreement to his dormitory. "This is completely illegal," explained Huang Qiaoyan, a lawyer at Lingnan Law Firm and a labor law expert at Sun Yat-sen University. "Even if an employee voluntarily waives their privacy rights, a company cannot replace law enforcement agencies in exercising search authority."Under China's Criminal Procedure Law, only authorized law enforcement agencies possess search authority, and such searches must strictly adhere to statutory conditions and procedures. When companies resort to extraordinary measures like searches or detentions against employees, workers should immediately contact the police to protect their personal liberty." Furthermore, Huang Qiaoyan contends that safeguarding trade secrets involves departmental responsibilities and corporate workflows; when confidentiality breaches occur, individual employees should not bear sole responsibility.When confidential items are lost, companies should proactively report the incident to the police. Before police intervention, companies can preserve the scene to the greatest extent possible—freezing assets, requesting employees remain on-site, and temporarily restricting external contact—but must refrain from conducting private searches, detentions, or interrogations.Employees: Coping with the Pressure of Confidentiality Breaches Committing suicide over the loss of a prototype may seem extreme to most people. Song Qi, Director of Human Resources Education for South China, suggests that individuals facing professional negligence often develop excessive anxiety about potential consequences. This fear can escalate into overwhelming dread or despair, especially when exacerbated by threats from others, ultimately leading to extreme actions.Moreover, Sun Danyong's introverted personality may have caused him to misjudge further actions under extreme negative emotional stress, failing to recognize the common sense that confidential items are less important than life itself. After such incidents, individuals should promptly seek help from close confidants who can offer more objective advice. Upon losing an item, report the situation to the company immediately instead of spending three days searching alone.This approach helps clear suspicion while enabling timely damage control. Song Qi believes this incident prompts multiple reflections on corporate crisis management. First lies the need for employee stress resilience and adversity training. If staff undergo structured resilience exercises in controlled environments before assuming critical roles, they will respond more rationally and proactively during emergencies.Second, it calls for reflection on human-centered management. As society enters the era of emotional capital, employees' individual emotional needs demand that companies prioritize humanity. If an employee is entrusted with work involving major corporate secrets, they should be fully trusted by the company. To ensure security, companies must either strengthen process management or enhance backup security measures and reminders to guarantee absolute safety.Even when problems occur, responsibility should not rest solely with the individual. While the employee may indeed be suspect, the company should prioritize protecting the employee during the incident rather than overlooking their emotional state in pursuit of investigating the event itself. It is even more unacceptable to make negative insinuations or resort to crude intimidation toward employees without conclusive evidence.