Uber launches investigations as company faces claims of sexism and sexual harassment

midian182

Posts: 9,658   +121
Staff member

More allegations of blatant sexism have hit the tech industry. Last week, news arrived of a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Magic Leap; now, ride-hailing giant Uber is facing similar accusations.

Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, who was at the company from November 2015 until she left to join Stripe last December, wrote a scathing blog post recounting her “strange, fascinating, and slightly horrifying” time at the firm.

The problems began on her first day at Uber, thanks to a manager who seemed overly eager to share details of his sex life.

In my first official day rotating on the team, my new manager sent me a string of messages over company chat. He was in an open relationship, he said, and his girlfriend was having an easy time finding new partners but he wasn't. He was trying to stay out of trouble at work, he said, but he couldn't help getting in trouble, because he was looking for women to have sex with. It was clear that he was trying to get me to have sex with him, and it was so clearly out of line that I immediately took screenshots of these chat messages and reported him to HR.

After reporting the matter, Fowler was told by HR that as it was the man’s first offense, they wouldn’t feel comfortable giving him anything more than a warning and stern talking to. Additionally, upper management informed her that he was a high earner, and it was “probably just an innocent mistake on his part,” even though several other women had reported the same manager.

Fowler was given the option to transfer to another team or continue working with the man who harassed her – who would likely give her a bad performance review.

She says after that manager was eventually fired and she moved onto another team, her excellent performance scores were altered in her official reviews. This meant she couldn’t get a transfer and was ineligible for a Stanford University graduate program in computer science that was sponsored by Uber. Fowler claims the alterations were made to make her manager look good, as other female engineers were quickly leaving teams at Uber.

Other allegations include stories of management in-fighting, discrimination, and the HR department hinting that Fowler herself was the problem. It suggested she was a “common theme,” commented that it was unprofessional to report things via email, and stated “certain people of certain genders and ethnic backgrounds were better suited for some jobs than others.”

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said the described behavior was abhorrent and against everything Uber believes in. He promised to launch an urgent investigation. Board member Arianna Huffington added that she will work with chief HR office Liane Hornsey to carry out an “independent” investigation.

Permalink to story.

 
Feminazzis are so prominent these days, that it is hard to tell if this is the whole story or not...
You sir, are probably part of the issue. There is no other story, there is nowhere and no way that using corporate platforms to engage in personal activities -being this for sexual advances or whatnot- is ok. Also, HR has a role to play, and even if there was more story to tell, they should be the ones enforcing and not saying he is a high earner.

There is not a single place where I think anything more than what was told could be necessary to take actions if found suspicious behaviour.
 
You sir, are probably part of the issue. There is no other story, there is nowhere and no way that using corporate platforms to engage in personal activities -being this for sexual advances or whatnot- is ok. Also, HR has a role to play, and even if there was more story to tell, they should be the ones enforcing and not saying he is a high earner.

There is not a single place where I think anything more than what was told could be necessary to take actions if found suspicious behaviour.

I do agree that there is no place for this kind of behavior within an organization of any size, or an employee of any status. What I'm referring to is that maybe the whole story is bogus... Would not be the first time I see an extreme feminist over-exaggerating the truth... ever seen the Hugh Mongus video?

Anyways, if it is indeed true... yeah that should've been termination, or at the very least the "Final Warning" if there were no offenses prior to this event.

But I was not referring to this side of the story... I was referring to the fact that these feminazzis just seem so eager to get others into trouble, that they will do anything necessary.

Doesn't even have to be a feminazzi or anything like that. Ever seen a woman trying to get back at a guy? Who's to say she did not lead him on in some manner at first? It's not normal behavior for an individual to come up to another and simply be like: "hey let's do it." Unless of course, the guy really is a perv, and should be fired.
 
Uber and many other organisations have dirt-bag humans in their midst, as there are in society also. Punishment for crime is not severe enough in Australia and some other Western countries and noted by increases of criminals in prisons.
 
Additionally, upper management informed her that he was a high earner, and it was “probably just an innocent mistake on his part,” even though several other women had reported the same manager.
Why is upper management justifying it's decisions with her? She should have received the response 'We'll take care of it' and that should have been it.

The problems started on her FIRST DAY? maybe it wasn't sexism - maybe it was hazing. Still not cool - but maybe it's just cause you're new.

Also - I don't normally believe a story I've only heard one side of. And I don't normally believe an accusation of sexism/racism etc when there is only one victim - it always sounds like the victim is trying to explain away the fact that they are the problem by blaming it on something they can't control (like race or gender etc)
 
Uber and many other organisations have dirt-bag humans in their midst, as there are in society also. Punishment for crime is not severe enough in Australia and some other Western countries and noted by increases of criminals in prisons.
Perhaps this is true, but as soon as we in the US get enough criminals off the streets and into prison where they belong, liberals along with the rest of the world's know it alls and second guessers, start running their mouths about, "the US is supposed to be a free country, how come you have the highest percentage of your population in prison.

To which I say, "because we can afford it, and we're too smart not to put them there".
 
...[ ]...The problems started on her FIRST DAY? maybe it wasn't sexism - maybe it was hazing. Still not cool - but maybe it's just cause you're new. ...[ ].....
Then there's always the possibility she was an ACLU plant. You can't tell me those don't exist.
 
Back