Alibaba Faces Embarrassment Over 'Workplace Sexual Assault' Scandal This Time

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company, is currently facing difficulties due to a sexual misconduct case within the organization.

On the 8th (local time), according to CNBC and Bloomberg, Alibaba is embroiled in controversy after a female employee recently revealed on the internal intranet that she was sexually harassed and assaulted by her superior.

The female employee, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed that while on a business trip to Jinan City, Shandong Province, her superior forced her to drink alcohol until she was intoxicated and then sexually assaulted her. She added that although she raised the issue with the company, appropriate measures were not taken.

This issue spread rapidly through social media (SNS), placing Alibaba at the center of the controversy. The news was reported by Chinese media and even ranked first in real-time search trends on the Chinese SNS Weibo.

Alibaba issued a statement on the same day, saying, "We have formed an internal team to investigate this matter" and "We will actively cooperate with the police investigation."

They continued, "We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual misconduct" and "We have immediately suspended the individuals suspected of violating our policies and values."

The Jinan City police authorities in Shandong Province announced that they have started an investigation into the employees involved in this case.

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said, "This incident is very shocking and extremely upsetting," adding, "We will conduct a thorough investigation and clearly disclose the results to all employees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.