Uber has fired 20 workers after a company investigation into sexual harassment claims, according to a source with information of the issue.(Uber fires 20 employees)
The law firm Perkins Coie, which was hired to help previous U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder’s firm Covington & Burling in its inquiry of Uber’s place of work practices, told Uber’s more than 12,000 staff Tuesday that it looked into 215 complaints and took no action in 100 instances, the person said.
Employees were told that those fired were finished for a variety of reasons, including sexual harassment, bullying and bigotry. Perkins Coie did not disclose the names of those who were fired up, the source said. Uber did not respond to a request for comment.
That former employee, Susan Fowler — an Uber software engineer from November 2015 to December 2016 — said in February in a lengthy blog post on her personal website that a manager had propositioned her and, regardless of saving copies of their correspondence, human resources failed to control him.
Fowler said. “I was told by both HR and upper management that even though this was clearly sexual harassment and he was propositioning me, it was this man’s first crime and that they wouldn’t feel relaxed giving him anything other than a caution,”
She further said “It became obvious that both HR and management had been lying about this being his ‘first offense,’”
Uber’s chief executive, Travis Kalanick, in February condemned the behavior Fowler described, saying that it was “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.”
“Yes, there were some bad apples, indubitably,” she said. “But this is not a systemic problem. What is important is that the structures that were not in place are now being put in places to make sure that women, minorities, everyone, feels completely comfortable at Uber.”
