After firing supervisor accused of sexual assault, Alibaba pledges ‘zero-tolerance’ with new measures

GUANGZHOU, China — Alibaba has launched a sequence of measures designed to stop sexual harassment and assault.

The transfer comes after a feminine worker accused her supervisor Wang Chengwen and a shopper of Alibaba of sexual assault. 

Wang was fired and Alibaba took disciplinary motion towards different staff, comparable to its Chief Individuals Officer Judy Tong, who was given a demerit. The Chinese language e-commerce big’s CEO Daniel Zhang criticized the human assets division, saying it “didn’t pay sufficient consideration and care to our folks.”

Along with the dismissal, Wang can be being investigated by police within the metropolis of Jinan over these allegations associated to sexual misconduct.

The e-commerce big, trying to comprise the reputational injury from the incident, stated in a letter to staff that it might arrange a committee. The committee would be the “decision-making physique for issues associated however not restricted to sexual harassment prevention and can report on to the Alibaba Group Board of Administrators,” the corporate stated.

Alibaba’s five-woman committee shall be led by the group’s Deputy Chief Individuals Officer, Jane Jiang.

The committee will appoint an unbiased working crew “answerable for investigating any complaints and experiences associated to sexual harassment and sexual assault.”

Alibaba additionally stated it might revise the corporate’s code of conduct to enhance practices and measures associated to sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention. It will additionally create a “Sexual Harassment Prevention Code of Conduct” with the intention to “intensify our zero-tolerance coverage towards sexual misconduct,” the corporate stated.

The girl, who accused Wang of sexual assault, alleges that the supervisor compelled her to drink excessively throughout a enterprise dinner in Jinan one night in late July. She stated she wakened the subsequent morning bare in her mattress in her lodge room. The worker stated she vaguely remembers Wang kissing and touching her the night time earlier than in her room.

She reported the incident in a submit on Alibaba’s intranet. The allegations went viral when the submit was later shared on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.

Alibaba stated it has arrange a crew which can “look at and eradicate inappropriate office habits reported by staff, together with however not restricted to points comparable to compelled ingesting tradition and tasteless feedback that make the office uncomfortable.”

“Staff could have unconditional assist to refuse any kind of compelled ingesting,” it added.