A logo of Alibaba is seen in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on March 21, 2016. (PHOTO / IC)

E-commerce giant Alibaba has fired a manager accused of sexual assault by a female colleague, CEO Zhang Yong said in a memo published on the company's intranet on Monday morning.

The female employee released details of the alleged incidents in an internal post, complaining that Alibaba had not taken her accusations seriously

Zhang said the manager admitted that he and the female employee had been overly intimate while drunk, according to the preliminary results of an internal probe. The company would never hire him again and was waiting for the results of a police investigation to see if the man would be charged with rape, Zhang added.

The investigation is being conducted by police in Jinan, Shandong province. The female employee accused her male supervisor of raping her and a client of molesting her in Jinan on July 27 during a business trip.

The client, Zhang Guo, who was a staff member of Jinan Hualian supermarket, has also been fired, the supermarket said in a notice.

Zhang Guo didn't abide by its code of conduct for employees during a business dinner, caused a bad social influence and had tarnished the company's image, it said.

The female employee released details of the alleged incidents in an internal post, complaining that Alibaba had not taken her accusations seriously.

Li Yonghe, president of Alibaba's Hyperlocal Retail Business Group, and business group human resources staff member Xu Kun have resigned for failing in their duties.

"As the president of the business group, Li failed to respond actively, and his sensitivity and attention in this matter were far from enough. Xu didn't play the decisive role required," Zhang Yong said in the memo.

Alibaba Chief Human Resources Officer Tong Wenhong was given a demerit penalty for her team's carelessness in dealing with the allegations. The HR team failed to immediately suspend an employee suspected of a crime, indicating that problems existed in the HR system, the memo said.

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Some 6,000 Alibaba employees have formed a discussion group to express their concerns about the case, which has attracted widespread public attention, online media outlet ThePaper.cn reported.

The discussion group released a statement on Sunday saying it reflected flaws in Alibaba's management as well as a lack of protection of female employees' rights.

Members hoped Alibaba would promote the establishment of a system to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault of employees, especially female colleagues, in the workplace, said the statement, which was spread on social media platforms.

"We will try our best to take care of the female employee involved," Zhang Yong said in the memo. The case shamed all Alibaba personnel, he added.

"We must rebuild. We must change," he said. "Everyone is supposed to take their own action but it must start from the leadership."

Alibaba will carry out training and investigations on the protection of employees' rights, and open special reporting channels, the memo said. With zero tolerance for sexual harassment, experts and employee representatives will jointly formulate a regulation to guard against sexual harassment.

Regardless of gender, Alibaba unconditionally supports the right of employees to turn down requests that they drink alcohol when accompanying guests at dinner meetings, Zhang Yong said.