The family of a Facebook employee who died by suicide about a week ago at the social media site's California headquarters has retained employment class action firm Sanford Heisler & Sharp.

Qin Chen, an employee of Facebook, jumped from the upper floor of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 19. Last week, protesters demanded "Justice for Qin," some insisting that he might have been a victim of bullying at Facebook.

In an announcement posted to its website, as well as on Twitter and Facebook, Sanford Heisler did not mention Chen or his family members by name, but said it represented "the family of the Facebook employee who was involved in the tragic suicide on Facebook's campus."

"Our firm is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death," said the announcement, signed by the Washington, D.C., firm's chairman, David Sanford, and Qiaojing Ella Zheng, senior counsel in the firm's San Francisco office. "There seems to be conflicting information about the circumstances related to the death. We are sorting through inconsistent reports in an effort to determine the truth for the family."

According to the announcement, Sanford Heisler said it had met with Facebook's attorneys and encouraged people to come forward with information.

"It's obviously a very tragic incident," Zheng told Law.com. "Based on what we have seen so far, there are a lot of conflicting statements or commentaries or just information from various stakeholders. We just want to make sure we can sort through the information and get to the bottom of the truth. That's why we're welcoming anyone with information to contact us."

When asked whether the firm was investigating the possibility of workplace harassment, she said: "We don't know the specifics, but we are investigating every possibility."

Sanford Heisler has brought some of the nation's most significant employment-related class actions, including cases over unpaid wages and gender discrimination. The firm has sued several law firms alleging unequal pay, including a $200 million case against Jones Day.

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