Alibaba, a Chinese language e-commerce firm, has fired a girl for claiming that a colleague and a buyer had sexually assaulted she.
In her dismissal letter, she was accused of spreading falsehoods that broken the corporate's popularity.
In August, the worker made her claims public as a result of Alibaba didn't act. The assaults occurred on a enterprise journey, she claimed.
The colleague was fired, however the legal case in opposition to him was dropped.
Police are nonetheless investigating the consumer.
This case is well-publicized and highlights the harassment of girls at work in China.
In response to the government-backed newspaper Dahe Each day, she was fired in late October. It revealed a replica her termination letter.
Within the letter, she claimed that she had made false statements concerning the assault and that the corporate was not dealing with the case.
This "brought about extreme social concern and had a unfavourable impression on the corporate", it added.
In response to the worker, he said that he had not dedicated any errors and wouldn't settle for this final result. He additionally stated that he would use authorized treatments sooner or later to guard his rights and pursuits.
Lawyer for the girl confirmed her dismissal to The New York Instances.
Alibaba, China's largest on-line retailer, did not instantly reply to a BBC request for remark.
What are the allegations?
The eleven-page report by the girl describing the incident included her account that the colleague raped the sufferer in a lodge room after she had drunk the evening earlier than.
It brought about a social media storm in China's Twitter-like Weibo.
In response to the girl, the colleague in increased administration within the firm coerced her to journey to Jinan, which is roughly 900km (560 mi) from Alibaba's Hangzhou headquarters, to ensure that her to fulfill with a consumer.
She claimed that her superiors ordered her to have alcohol with coworkers at dinner.
She claimed that the consumer had kissed her on 27 July. The following morning, she awoke in her lodge room with out her garments on. She had no reminiscence of what occurred the evening earlier than.
In response to the girl, she had surveillance digital camera footage that confirmed her co-worker coming into her bed room 4 instances within the night.
The lady returned to Hangzhou and said that the incident had been reported to Alibaba's Human Assets (HR) division. She additionally claimed that she had requested for the firing of the coworker.
She said that though human assets initially accepted the request, they didn't take any additional motion.
What was the response?
Alibaba was topic to a fierce public backlash and later fired the coworker, recognized as Mr Wang. Two executives from the corporate who failed to reply to the allegation have been additionally fired by Alibaba.
An e mail was despatched out stating that Alibaba was "staunchly opposed" to pressured ingesting tradition.
Alibaba beforehand said that the person accused of the rape had confessed to "intimate acts" whereas the girl "was inebriated".
Though the case in opposition to Mr Wang is not going to proceed, the court docket has authorized the arrest of the consumer accused of assaulting the sufferer. His surname is Zhang.
His firm additionally fired Mr Zhang, based on experiences.
On-line opinion has break up on the case. Social media customers have posted opinions starting from that the coworker was too simple to get away with, to others saying there wasn't sufficient proof.
This new growth is probably going spark comparable discussions in China, which is at the moment grappling with the #MeToo motion.
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