Alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party According to a 2001 report by the
Jamestown Foundation,
World Journal was one of the four major Chinese newspapers found in the U.S. that "has recently begun bowing to pressure from the Beijing government." The other three which were
Sing Tao Daily,
Ming Pao Daily News, and
The China Press had already been "either directly or indirectly controlled by the government of Mainland China". The report referenced an instance of
self-censorship by
World Journal in its efforts to develop business ties with the People's Republic of China in which Chinese consulates in both New York and San Francisco have pressured the papers local offices not to publish ads related to
Falun Gong. The New York office reportedly acquiesced in full and did not publish the ads, while the San Francisco office acquiesced in part by burying the ads among the paper's least viewed pages. Conversely, Jason Q. Ng of
China Digital Times and
Citizen Lab considered
World Journal in 2013 to be relatively critical of PRC policies.
Labor law violation On January 10, 2007, a Southern California jury found the
Monterey Park-based
Chinese Daily News responsible for failing to give employees breaks, lunches, and overtime, and awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million. The plaintiffs alleged that they worked over twelve hours per day, were not provided accurate pay statements, and were unfairly interfered with during unionization attempts. In 2001, the employees voted to join the
Communication Workers of America, but the
National Labor Relations Board vacated the union vote after finding that the election was tainted. The
Chinese Daily News appealed the ruling in the district court, with proceedings held in the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the
U.S. Supreme Court. In 2011, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided
Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Ninth Circuit for reconsideration in light of Dukes. On September 13, 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the district court's grant of
class certification under
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) Rule 23(b)(3). Upon remand at the
district court level, Plaintiffs once again moved for class certification, and the district court recertified the class.
Chinese Daily News thereafter filed a FRCP Rule 23(f) Petition to Appeal, which the Ninth Circuit granted on August 22, 2014. In 2016, the
Chinese Daily News agreed to pay $7.8 million to former and current employees in a settlement. The Los Angeles area-based
Chinese Daily News was later amalgamated into the New York City-headquartered
World Journal.
Discrimination against breastfeeding women On October 21, 2013,
World Journal published a controversial article that allegedly discriminated against breastfeeding women. Titled "Breastfeeding photos embarrass Chinese-American to death", the article cited anonymous resources, labeled breastfeeding photos as "R-rated-photos", and described those photos as "disturbing" and "disgusting." The article received strong reaction among
Chinese American Community and the Taiwanese Breastfeeding Association launched a protest against
World Journal. Media Watch criticized that the report was "misleading" and "biased." It was also reported that
World Journal allegedly failed to accommodate employees' legal nursing needs. Taiwanese American journalist and author
To-wen Tseng blogged about her experience of being forced to pump her breast milk in a bathroom stall, and was harassed by colleagues for attempting to wash pumping accessories in the office kitchen. In November 2013, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center submitted a lawyer's letter to
World Journal, requesting a policy change and supervisor training regarding nursing employees' legal rights. The
World Journal disputed the employee's claims, but agreed to settle the case. On August 25, 2014,
World Journal made a policy change as requested and paid for the damage. ==See also==