Alibaba manager accused of sexual assault to be fired: memo

[NEW YORK] Alibaba Group Holding will fire a manager accused of rape, and two executives who mishandled the sexual assault allegation have resigned, as the company seeks to contain a scandal raging across social media sites in China.

"We must use this opportunity to reflect and rebuild our thinking and actions fully," chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said in an internal memo on Monday reviewed by Bloomberg News. One of the managers who quit, Li Yonghe, is president of the company's City Retail unit.

The company has been working with police on the investigation after a female employee said her boss came into her hotel room and raped her when she was inebriated, after a night of drinking with clients in the eastern city of Jinan. Her account took Chinese social media by storm, throwing the tech giant into the limelight of China's latest #MeToo moment.

The accused has confessed he had intimate acts with the female employee, and law enforcement officials will determine whether he broke the law, according to the memo.

Alibaba has a "zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct", a company spokesperson said, referring to a prior statement over the weekend.

Alibaba chief people officer Judy Tong will be given a demerit in her records. The human resources department "did not pay enough attention and care" and "lacked empathy", Mr Zhang said.

Alibaba will conduct a company-wide training programme on employee rights protection, including anti-sexual harassment, Mr Zhang said. It will also establish a reporting channel and speed up the formation of a code of action to address such issues.

The police investigation remains ongoing, according to the memo.

BLOOMBERG