This blew up! Chen Hao’s report sparked ripples of controversy! Nearly 60 employees launched collective rights protection, and Xiaohongshu’s listing compliance crisis broke out

Xiaohongshu seems to have fully offended its former employees.

So much so that this former employee is said to have gotten stuck in publicly circulating claims that on the eve of its listing, he filed complaints with the HKEX and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission—an attitude of not giving up until it derails the IPO.

The whole thing traces back to a termination dispute. Reports say Chen Hao was notified of dismissal by Xiaohongshu in December 2023. But when he joined in 2022, he received 30k shares of overseas options with performance conditions, exercisable over 4 years. Yet just 5 months before the first batch of options became exercisable, Xiaohongshu suddenly unilaterally dismissed him on the grounds of “unable to perform his duties.”

What’s even worse is that if it was going to dismiss him, so be it—but the resignation certificate Xiaohongshu issued to Chen Hao still had the two characters “eliminate/replacement” (汰换) on it. This is basically saying that not only were all the options voided, but the person himself was also harshly insulted. With this resignation certificate in hand, how could any next employer not shake their head?

If Chen Hao’s performance had been terrible, he could probably just put up with it. But the problem is, back in 2018, Chen Hao single-handedly achieved 1.5 hundred million in performance at his prior company. After joining Xiaohongshu, he didn’t slack off—performance remained stable and even improved. In 2023, the year he was dismissed, his performance also reached 120%, and he even won the company’s innovation award.

So, whether it’s the dismissal rationale or the wording “eliminate/replacement” on the resignation certificate, Xiaohongshu clearly has no leg to stand on.

To seek an explanation, this seemingly straightforward dispute dragged on for 2 years. After Chen Hao went head-to-head with Xiaohongshu, everything—arbitration, court hearings, mediation—kept cycling back and forth, with three court hearings in total.

With just your toes, you could figure this one out,