A video showing a human resources executive firing an employee while brazenly admitting she is breaking the law, and threatening to scupper the man’s future job prospects, has attracted more than a billion views online.
The footage captures a dispute between the HR executive and an employee at a chip design company in Beijing, in which the employee alleges his contract was unlawfully terminated and demands an explanation.
“I am illegally terminating you now. What can you do about it?” The HR person, surnamed Jing, asks arrogantly admitting to knowingly breaking the law.
“You cannot just break the law. This should be done legally. I will wait for the labour arbitrator’s decision,” the employee, surnamed Sun, counters.
The executive then says: “You can wait. We’ll take our time with the lawsuit which can take more than two years. I have plenty of connections.
“You won’t find a job for two and a half years. I will have food on my plate next month, but you will not. Think about it.”
She then urges the employee not to upload a video of the interaction and even suggests calling the police to intervene.
The video rapidly led to several trending hashtags on mainland social media and amassed more than a billion views, after which the company NeoNexus Technologies Limited, swiftly issued a statement admitting their HR executive had made inappropriate remarks.
However, the company defended Jing, saying she was “in an emotional state” and that she had been temporarily suspended for a period of self-reflection.
The firm also reiterated that the termination was legal, citing Sun’s lack of competence and poor performance in his job as the reasons for dismissal.
“The former employee, Sun, joined the company on June 25, 2023, with a six-month probation period. We signed a mutual termination agreement on December 1, with his salary for November and compensation paid in full. All procedures were legally compliant,” read a company statement.
On January 8, a district labour inspector said Sun had not filed a complaint nor sought arbitration, and the parties had already reached a severance agreement.
Sun insists he still wants an apology from Jing and for her to stop “slandering” him, according to Jimu News.
Very legitimate and professional.
I didn’t say she was acting properly, but not giving someone a permanent spot or refusing to offer a contract after a probationary period is not uncommon or problematic.