Uber has experienced turmoil in relation to allegations that it is a toxic workplace.
A 2017 sexual discrimination charge led to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation in which the EEOC found “reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment.” As part of the settlement agreement, Uber will establish a fund of $4.4 million to compensate anyone who the EEOC determines experienced sexual harassment on or after January 2014, according to an EEOC release. A claims administrator will send notices to female Uber employees who worked at the company from January 2014 through June 2019 and the EEOC will decide if employees are eligible for compensation. (The EEOC is sending notices only to female Uber employees, which seems odd since men and non-binary people also experience sexual harassment.)
Uber has also agreed to implement a system for identifying employees who have filed more than one harassment complaint and for identifying managers who do not respond to concerns of sexual harassment in a timely manner. In addition, the company has agreed to work with an independent consultant to update human resources policies and will continue to conduct surveys and exit interviews with a focus on sexual harassment and retaliation. Uber will be monitored for three years by former EEOC Commissioner Fred Alvarez.
“In particular, employers should take note of Uber’s commitment to holding management accountable and identifying repeat offenders so that high-performing, superstar harassers are not allowed to continue their behavior,” EEOC San Francisco District Director William Tamayo said in the release. “The tech industry, among others, has often ignored allegations of sexual harassment when an accused harasser is seen as more valuable to the company than the accuser.” The federal investigation into sex-discrimination charges in hiring, compensation and harassment began in August 2017 but became public after a Wall Street Journal report in July 2018.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that all employees can thrive at Uber by putting fairness and accountability at the heart of who we are and what we do,” Uber’s Chief Legal Officer Tony West said in the statement. “I am extremely pleased that we were able to work jointly with the EEOC in continuing to strengthen these efforts.” Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has experienced turmoil in relation to allegations that it is a toxic workplace. After former engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post in February 2017 about experiencing sexism and harassment at Uber, the company opened an investigation led by the law firm Covington & Burling. One of the firm’s many recommendations was that Uber should “review and reallocate” the responsibilities of Uber founder Travis Kalanick. The board unanimously approved Covington & Burling’s recommendations and Kalanick resigned as CEO in June 2017, just days after the investigation’s end. The high-profile resignations continued the next month when one executive left after an investigation into how she handled claims of racial discrimination and another after reportedly making insensitive comments about women and minorities.
Earlier this month, Uber released its first safety report, which revealed that in 2018 the company received 3,045 reports of sexual assaults during rides, as well as that nine people were murdered during rides and 58 were killed in crashes in the U.S.
