Uber is a popular taxi service where customers can call for a nearby driver through the use of the company’s app. However, due to recent allegations of sexual harassment by their drivers, Uber has decided to adopt all recommendations proposed to them. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder proposed a series of recommendations to the company after months of investigation into Uber’s history. The allegations stem from a blog post made by former Uber employee Susan Fowler who claims that she left the company due to sexual harassment by her manager. According to Fowler’s blog post her manager claimed he was in an open relationship and was looking for women to have intercourse with, Fowler feeling that this was inappropriate behavior for her manager reported him to Uber’s upper management, unfortunately the situation was handled horribly by upper management as they chose to let Fowler’s manager off with an extremely light punishment because it was his first offense and he was a “high performer” and viewed the matter as nothing more than an innocent mistake by the manager. She was then given a choice to leave the team or stay, she chose to leave and after meeting with some women on her new team she found that they had stories similar to her own. As she tried to go against what she realized was a scandal in the workplace, later leading to the investigation of the company.
The allegations stem from a blog post made by former Uber employee Susan Fowler who claims that she left the company due to sexual harassment by her manager. According to Fowler’s blog post, her manager claimed he was in an open relationship and was looking for women to have intercourse with, Fowler feeling that this was inappropriate behavior for her manager reported him to Uber’s upper management, unfortunately the situation was handled horribly by upper management as they chose to let Fowler’s manager off with an extremely light punishment because it was his first offense and he was a “high performer” and viewed the matter as nothing more than an innocent mistake by the manager. She was then given a choice to leave the team or stay, she chose to leave and after meeting with some women on her new team she found that they had stories similar to her own. As she tried to go against what she realized was a scandal in the workplace, later leading to the investigation of the company.
She was then given a choice to leave the team or stay, she chose to leave and after meeting with some women on her new team, she found that they had stories similar to her own. As she tried to go against what she realized was a scandal in the workplace, later leading to the investigation of the company. Uber chose not to the meeting, though it will be a pivotal turning point for a company that has become so widely popular and heavily relied on, but has found itself under fire due to the poor handling of a serious situation within their work place.
Chief executive of Uber Travis Kalanick is expected to take a three-month leave of absence because of the allegations as well as personal reasons that occurred prior, however, he may return in a position with less power as well as other changes to their executive leadership board. The company plans to appoint members to the board who are familiar with the seriousness of sexual harassment in the workplace, and has chosen to appoint executive vice president at Nestle SA Wan Ling Martello as executive vice to the board. The sexual allegations in Uber haven’t been the only problems the company is facing, Uber is currently facing a lawsuit from Alphabet (formerly known as Google) and it’s self-driving program in jeopardy. An investor in Uber calls the board’s decisions an “opportunity to reboot,” and hopefully with new members of the board in power these allegations of sexual harassment will never happen again.
(Susan Fowler’s Blog Post): https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber
