Alibaba promises investigation, cooperation with police over sex assault allegation
Alibaba said it is thoroughly looking into an employee's sexual assault accusation against her manager after a social media posting was widely circulated on Saturday.
The female employee at Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou accused her manager surnamed Wang of rape during a recent business trip to Ji'nan in Shandong Province in late July.
She was forced to drink with local clients in Shandong and was molested after she became drunk over dinner, while Wang turned a blind eye.
The post states hotel surveillance footage show that Wang, a regional head of Tmall's fresh food delivery unit, later entered her hotel room four times late in the night knowing she was drunk and unconscious.
She called Shandong Police on July 28.
She also stated there was an attempted coverup by a superior and the human resources department when she filed a complaint. She posted her department and her team's managers have been suppressing her from getting justice.
After being promised to be given an investigation result by her superior, she was only notified by human resources staff and other team leaders on Friday that Wang will not be fired by the company "for the sake of her reputation."
Her accounts which were reposted from the company's internal website, also reads that she was escorted by bodyguards to leave the company's canteen when she tried to bring posters to seek attention.
Alibaba said it has suspended the employee from his position and Deputy Chief People Officer Jiang Fang is leading a special task force to look into the matter.
It will not tolerate molestation and sexual assault which are both grave criminal offenses, and will work with Shandong police authorities' investigation.
