New York residents who rely on Uber to get around town may be interested in learning that on Feb. 20, the company’s CEO instructed the chief human resources officer to look into claims of sexual harassment put forth by a former Uber engineer. The former engineer claimed in a blog that her manager used the company chat to proposition her.
In her blog, the former engineer wrote that she took screenshots of the chats and took them to the human resources department. She reportedly expected that the person would be dealt with swiftly, but apparently, that did not happen. She was allegedly told that the manager was a ‘high performer” this was the first offense. However, she later learned that there had been other complaints made against the same individual.
At the time the blog post was made, Uber was already facing heat after it appeared that the company was taking advantage of the taxi strike that resulted from the immigration ban by lowering its prices. The blog post only added fuel to the fire as the hashtag #DeleteUber began to trend again.
When a manager or colleague makes unwanted sexual comments towards an employee, the victim may not report the incidents due to fear of retaliation. If the employee does report the manager or colleague, who is subsequently terminated or otherwise punished, an employment attorney may assist him or her with filing a lawsuit against the company and the harasser. The employee could potentially seek compensation for any damages he or she sustained due to being fired or for losing out on promotions and other work opportunities.
Source: NPR, “Uber Will Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims By Engineer“, Maggie Penman, 02/20/2017
