Uber Facing Harassment Investigation For Over 215 Complaints Made Against Staff

Uber has dominated news headlines in the last 6 months or so, but to be noted, for all the wrong reasons..

Today Uber has announced it has dismissed more than 20 people, and is taking other actions against staff after a harassment investigation is fully underway.  Susan Fowler, who wrote the critical blog post about Uber, said the company ignored her complaints of sexual harassment whilst working there. The blog has been widely shared, thus, prompting Mr Kalanick (CEO Uber) to launch the investigations.Here’s the breakdown of the 215 claims investigated:

• Discrimination (54)
• Sexual Harassment (47)
• Unprofessional behaviour (45)
• Bullying (33)
• Other harassment (19)
• Retaliation (13)
• Physical Security (3)
• Wrongful Dismissal (1)

Actions taken and cases under review:

• Staff dismissed (20
• Staff put in training (31)
• Final Warnings (7)
• Claims still under review (57)

Uber’s new direction

This week, Uber have announced the appointment of two women in senior positions at the firm.

Frances Frei, a Harvard Business School professor, has been appointed as senior vice president for leadership and strategy, working with the head of human resources Liane Hornsey. Ms Hornsey is relatively new to the company, having only started working at Uber at the beginning of 2017.

Whilst women hold about 15% of the technology positions. According to a diversity report Uber published earlier this year, around 36% of the workforce is female. This holds an impressive read (considering Uber has hired more than double of the industries average for women).

Reflection of the case:

What we find most troubling is why Uber’s own internal HR structure did not deem the complaints bad enough to see that the actions of 20 employees warranted dismissal.

Instead it took a very brave former employee to voice her disappointments and her traumatic experiences at Uber for an investigation to be launched.If you’ve experienced sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination or anything within that bracket at work, we can help you to resolve the issue and even get compensation for you.

To discuss the matter confidentially with our specialised stress at work team, we offer a free consultation so please feel free to email or call us today on 0113 200 9787 and ask to speak to the Stress team.