Alibaba sets up all-female committee to fight workplace harassment

Details:

• The committee, which will report directly to the company’s board of directors, is led by Alibaba’s deputy human resources chief Jane Jiang Fang, who is known as the “Iron Lady” for her tough approach. The team also includes the firm’s chief financial officer Maggie Wu Wei, chief people officer Judy Tong Wenhong, general counsel Sara Yu Siying, and chief risk officer Jessie Zheng Junfang.
• According to Alibaba, it is updating its corporate rule books to ensure “zero tolerance” of sexual harassment. It also set up a team to police inappropriate workplace behavior, such as “forced drinking at dinner tables” and “vulgar jokes.”

Dive deeper:

• The development comes after a post from a female Alibaba employee was circulated on Weibo accusing her direct supervisor of rape. She reported the incident to HR, asking for the boss to be fired, but nothing happened.
• However, after the post became viral, Alibaba fired the manager involved in the incident.