BAD BANQUET

Authorities in Jinan announced that there is insufficient evidence to arrest a manager of tech company Alibaba accused of sexually assaulting a female employee on a business trip in late July, instead punishing him with 15 days of administrative detention.

The case triggered widespread discussion on both business drinking culture and sexual assault in the workplace after the employee anonymously revealed her experience on social media, claiming that both the manager and a client assaulted her after she was forced to drink with the client. She also said that her company’s human resources department did not respond to her complaint and she handed out flyers in the company canteen to attract attention.

Alibaba has fired the manager in question and said it will make guidelines for workplace sexual harassment. The incident also prompted several other major companies, including internet firm Sina, to update their sexual harassment policies.