Amidst a series of scandals that have plagued Uber lately, a deeper look at harassment allegations have caused the ride-hailing company to look even worse on a public relations level. Earlier this month, allegations concerning the questionable workplace culture of Uber has been discovered to be more than a few - 215 in fact. Uber recently announced that it has fired 20 more employees after a law firm investigation.
Uber, a ride-sharing network company is led by co-Founder and CEO Travis Kalanick. Beginning in 2009, the company started in its current headquarters of San Francisco, California, with the Uber mobile app being introduced in 2010. Exclusive to San Francisoc, Uber quickly grew to take over all over the United States, and the world. Uber currently offers many different types of transportation options such as Uber X and Uber Pool, where drivers can either use their own cars to take passengers or users can share cars at a more affordable price. Showcasing their diverse options, Uber has become a household name for anyone traveing across cities and neighborhoods. In addition, Uber has recently focused on self-driving cars, propelling towards a fresher high-tech feature for transportation. Along with it's new strides towards a better feature however, Uber has been at the center of scandals, from harassment allegations in a tell-all from a former Uber employee, to an argument between Kalanick and a Uber driver in a released video.
The majority of the recent harassment claims against Uber are related to sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior and discrimination, which makes up most of the allegations altogether. The claims, although not all from one place, have been reported to mostly come from Uber's headquarters in San Francisco. Currently, Uber has been making improvements into its workplace culture. 31 of Uber's employees are reportedly undergoing workplace training, while 7 employees have been given final warnings.
Although Uber is working to improve their workplace relations, some are appalled by Uber's firing of employees as a whole. Debra Katz, a partner of Katz Marshall & Banks law firm, expanded on this, stating that "This is enormous. For corporate allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct to lead to firing 20 people, I know of no comparable corporate action. It's unprecedented.This is a significant action by Uber to give a strong message to take these actions seriously."
In efforts to make their executive board more attentive and secure, Uber has hired Frances Frei, a Havard business school professor, as its first Senior Vice President of Leadership and Strategy to ease its transition into a better company. Frei is determined to change Uber from the inside-out, stating that she wants "to show show people the pebbles in front of them that they might see as boulders and help sweep them away. The [employees] who have left have largely attributed it to bad interaction with managers, and that has been unfair to put those managers in place without any training or skills and no development."
Likewise, Uber has also hired former Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) executive Bozoma St. John as Chief Brand Officer. In doing so, Uber appears to be softening its relations with its customers. Kalanick expanded on this, stating that Boz's "creativity and deep understanding of consumers will allow us to build the same love and appreciation for Uber's brand as we've built for Uber's service."
The recent hirings of Uber's executive positions are pointing towards a better future for the ride-hailing company. Between the profusion of Uber's scandals, only time will tell if Uber will be able to fully repair its reputation as a company.