Chinese state media have reported that a woman who sued her boss over sexual advances has lost the country’s first sexual harassment case.
A district court in Xi'an, home to the famed Terracotta Warriors, ruled that the woman, surnamed Tong, lacked evidence to back her claim, the official China Daily said.
Tong, 30, had filed the claim in July, saying her boss had asked her to go to a hotel room and repeatedly touched her body while promising her opportunities to advance her career at a state-owned firm, the newspaper said.
Tong alleged her boss withheld her bonus and allowances when she refused his advances and was not allowed back to work after leaving her job for a time in anger, it said.
Tong had sought only a public apology during the hearing, which began in late October and lasted nearly two months, the paper said.
She could not seek a settlement out of court because sexual harassment is not clearly defined under Chinese law, it said.
Most sexual harassment victims have to bear their pain in silence, due to the lack of protection of laws, it said.