Chinese netizens slammed a local bank in Shanxi Province for "violating human rights" after a training consultant hired by the bank spanked the lowest-performing bank employees harshly in front of their coworkers.
A video clip of the spankings went viral on Sunday night. In the clip, eight employees, four men and four women, are standing in a line on a stage, and a man with a microphone asks them why they performed so badly. After hearing their answers, he systematically thwacks each one on the buttocks with what appears to be a wooden paddle, making a loud slapping sound each time. He hits them each four times before the video cuts out.
An anonymous bank employee who was present spoke to domestic media after the video stormed social media platforms, confirming that the bank hired the man, Jiang Yang, to lead the training seminar. According to China Youth Daily, Jiang's microblog showed photos of past seminar participants getting punished in various ways; seminar leaders shaved their heads, hit their palms and wrote words on their faces.
Although Jiang later argued that the spanking was just a part of a "game" to motivate employees, netizens were shocked at his use of public corporal punishment and criticized it as "employee humiliation." "This training [method] is unbelievably disgusting and abnormal. Isn't this illegal?" asked one netizen. Another remarked: "Doing this to women is sexual harassment." Many netizens said they couldn't believe that none of the employees stood up for themselves and resisted the beating.
Pressured by the instant public backlash, the bank has reportedly suspended several leaders that were involved in choosing the seminar and ordered Jiang to apologize and compensate the victims financially.
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