An open letter written by a female employee of domestic e-commerce giant Alibaba went viral this weekend.

In the letter, she describes how a team leader and his client, a senior executive with Jinan Hualian supermarket in Jinan, Shandong province, invited her to a meal on July 27, forced her to consume alcohol, and later sexually assaulted her.

The woman said she complained to the police and reported the matter to different levels of management at Alibaba, but they remained indifferent until she put up posters in the office canteen to highlight her plight.

After the incident went viral on social networking sites, Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong said in an internal post that he was "shocked, furious and ashamed" after learning about the incident.

On Monday, Alibaba announced it had fired the team leader, while two leaders at higher levels, Li Yonghe and Xu Kun, resigned.

One of the company's managers Tong Wenhong got a demerit point. The Jinan Hualian supermarket said they would cooperate with the police investigation.

Judging by the developments of the case, Alibaba failed to honor its legal obligation of protecting a female employee in the workplace.

The company should punish those who violated the anti-sexual harassment norms to prevent such a crime in the future. This is not a matter to be taken lightly.

The scandal also brings to light a major flaw in Alibaba's corporate social responsibility, as some of its managers tried to cover up the incident. Had they realized the gravity of the case, they would not have acted so foolishly.

It is time companies such as Alibaba strengthened their internal structure and develop a stronger sense of corporate social responsibility.

－LIU YUANJU, SHANGHAI INSTITUTE OF FINANCE AND LAW