AIA suspends employee linked to conflict at Hong Kong mall
Insurance company AIA has suspended an employee whom media reports link to a conflict at a Hong Kong shopping mall. During the incident, an elderly woman struck a five-year-old girl. AIA said it is conducting internal procedures and considering further action.
Incident at the shopping mall
The conflict occurred in the afternoon of August 26 in the atrium of the APM shopping mall in the Kwun Tong district on the Kowloon Peninsula, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing the South China Morning Post.
Videos circulated on social media show a 68-year-old woman pushing the girl and then hitting her in the face. After the blow, the child falls to the floor.
According to local media reports, police were called to the scene. Law enforcement officers detained three women: the 68-year-old woman, her 34-year-old daughter, and the girl's mother. As SCMP reported, all three were charged on August 27 with fighting in a public place; a court hearing was scheduled for September 3.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
AIA and social media reaction
After the video emerged, social media users circulated the personal data of the 34-year-old woman, including information about her profession, accounts, and the address of the AIA Hong Kong office where she reportedly worked.
On August 27, AIA confirmed to Hong Kong media that it had suspended the person concerned from work while prescribed internal procedures are carried out. The company said it has strict requirements for the conduct of financial planning consultants, does not condone violence in any form, and is examining the circumstances of the case.
Following online criticism, AIA disabled comments on its social media pages. Lawyers also warned that disseminating another person's personal data in a way that causes harm to them may constitute a criminal offense related to doxxing. Lawyer Vincent Chong Yip-fun told SCMP that disclosing information about the mother could have caused her, among other things, psychological harm.
