Alibaba fires employee who accused manager, client of rape

Alibaba has fired a woman employee who publicly accused her manager and a client of sexually assaulting her, saying she had damaged the company’s reputation through “false information.” The woman’s boss was fired after she alleged in August that the Chinese e-commerce giant had failed to take action against the alleged assault she faced during a business trip. A criminal case against the woman’s boss was dropped, while the client is still under police investigation.

The employee told Dahe Daily that she was fired late last month. The state-backed newspaper published a copy of the woman’s alleged termination letter, which said she had spread false information about the assault and Alibaba’s handling of the case.

It added this “caused strong social concern and had a bad impact on the company.”

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The employee was quoted as saying: “I have not made any mistakes, and certainly will not accept this result, and in the future will use legal means to protect my rights and interests.”

The woman’s lawyer confirmed her dismissal to the New York Times.

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The woman’s account of the incident was published in an eleven-page document, in which she said the manager had coerced her into travelling to the city of Jinan, which is around 900km (560 miles) from Alibaba’s head office in Hangzhou, for a meeting with a client.

She accused her superiors of forcing her to drink alcohol with co-workers during dinner on July 27, following which she was raped by her boss and the client.

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The woman said she had reported the matter to Alibaba’s human resources (HR) department and senior management who took no further action.

A fierce public backlash prompted Alibaba to fire the manager, identified only as Wang. The company said two executives who failed to act on the allegation had also resigned.

In a memo, Alibaba said it was “staunchly opposed to forced drinking culture.”

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Alibaba had earlier said the man accused of rape had admitted that “there were intimate acts” while the woman was “inebriated.”

Prosecutors have approved the arrest of the client who has been identified by his surname Zhang and has also reportedly been fired by his company.