Uber Fired 20 People In A Harassment Investigation

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

Uber told employees at an all-hands meeting on Tuesday that it has fired 20 people and investigated at least 200 claims of discrimination and harassment in an internal investigation into its workplace culture.

The information was shared by Uber's chief human resources officer Liane Hornsey; CEO Travis Kalanick was not present at the meeting, and is spending time with family following the death of his mother in a boating accident.

Uber launched an internal investigation into its workplace culture after a blog post by former engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti went viral in February, alleging systemic sexism. A source who declined to be named said those terminated were removed due to a variety of reasons including harassment, bullying or discrimination. The company's all-hands meeting was scheduled for an hour and started around 10 a.m. in San Francisco.

Uber on Monday announced that it had hired Frances Frei, a Harvard Business School professor, as senior vice president of leadership and strategy. Uber said in a blog post announcing the hire that she would "act as a partner" to its head of human resources, Lianne Hornsey, and called her "one of the world’s most respected authorities on organizational transformation." Frei was introduced to Uber staff by Hornsey during Monday's meeting.

The company has also hired a second female executive this week, Bozoma Saint John, who previously served as Apple's head of global consumer marketing for Apple Music and iTunes, according to reports. TechCrunch and Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Saint John had joined Uber. An Uber spokesperson declined to comment but said Saint John would not be filling the role of chief operating officer, for which Uber has been interviewing candidates for several months.

This story is breaking and will continue to be updated...

from BuzzFeed - Tech https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/uber-has-fired-twenty-people-in-a-harrasment-investigation?utm_term=4ldqpia