Uber has fired more than 20 of its employees, and is taking other actions against staff, after a company-wide harassment investigation.
The taxi-app firm looked into 215 complaints relating to sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and other violations of company policies.
Some 57 of these allegations remain under investigation.
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The action comes after a former female employee, Susan Fowler, wrote a blog post alleging sexual harassment and sexism at the company, leading to two investigations and the uncovering of 215 complaints about harassment and other allegations.
Fowler’s blog prompted Uber to set up a 24-hour hotline to take complaints from employees, and it hired lawyers at Perkins Coie to investigate them.
Bobbie Wilson, a partner at the international law firm, said the firings included both managers and lower-level workers, some of whom retaliated against employees after they complained about bad conduct.
According to the BBC, the 215 claims investigated were broken down as follows: discrimination, 54 cases; Sexual harassment, 47 cases; Unprofessional behaviour, 45 cases; Bullying, 33 cases; Other harassment, 19 cases; Retaliation, 13 cases; Physical security 3 cases; Wrongful dismissal 1 cases.
20 staff were fired, 31 staff were put in training, 7 were given final warnings, and 57 claims are still under review.
Uber has also appointed Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under former US president Barack Obama, to investigate the company’s broader culture.
Frances Frei, a Harvard Business School professor, will also start tenure as a senior vice president for leadership and strategy, working with the head of human resources Liane Hornsey. Ms Hornsey is herself relatively new, starting at the company in January.
Uber employs more than 12,000 people globally, with about 36% of the workforce is female, according to a diversity report the firm published earlier this year. Women hold about 15% of the technology positions.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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- Rebecca Clarke
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