A manager at Alibaba has ended up losing his job following a complaint of sexual misconduct filed against him by an employee. Two other senior executives who failed to handle the case appropriately also gave in their resignations. The accused will never be able to rejoin or associate with the Company in the future.
The scandal that has caused quite a stir on Chinese social media, involves a woman staff member accusing a colleague of getting her drunk before raping her. What was worse was that her complaint was not taken seriously by the seniors at the Chinese e-commerce company whom she approached, and no action was taken in the matter. The victim then revealed the incident in a detailed account on the Company’s intranet, describing how, despite five days having passed since the incident, no action had been taken against the accused.
With the incident going viral on social media, Alibaba fired the accused and assured its employees in an internal memo that the Company guarantees employee protection, and that it will introduce a special channel for reporting sexual assault. Apparently, thorough police investigations were carried out and enough evidence was collected against the accused. The scandal has shocked Alibaba and adversely affected its image as an employer.
The Company, which is known to encourage a culture of drinking, will now tone down the same. Alibaba has stated that it will consult with employee representatives and external experts to create anti-sexual harassment policies.
