Uber CEO to take leave, report calls for broad changes
SAN FRANCISCO — Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will take a leave of absence for an unspecified period and let his leadership team run the troubled ride-hailing company while he’s gone.
Kalanick told employees of his decision in a memo Tuesday, just as Uber released a report from former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder with recommendations on how to correct a workplace that lacks diversity and tolerates sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation against those who reported problems.
Holder’s firm, Covington & Burling LLP was hired to examine Uber’s workplace culture after a former employee levelled charges of sexual harassment.
Former engineer Susan Fowler posted a blog in February that detailed harassment during the year she spent at Uber, writing that she was propositioned by her manager on her first day with an engineering team. She reported him to human resources, but was told he would get a lecture and no further punishment because he was a “high performer,” she wrote.
Holder’s inves- tigators conducted more than 200 interviews with current and former employees, including people who had knowledge of Fowler’s allegations, according to the law firm’s recommendations.
The Holder report makes it clear that Uber was not doing enough to protect workers from sexual harassment and retaliation, noting that company policies need to state directly that such conduct is prohibited.
In addition, Uber must require that managers immediately report discrimination, harassment or retaliation, and ensure that codes of conduct apply to offsite events and conferences.
The report also says Uber should use performance reviews to hold senior managers accountable by setting metrics for improving diversity and responsiveness to employee complaints.
Liane Hornsey, Uber’s chief human resources officer, said implementing the recommendations “will improve our culture, promote fairness and accountability, and establish processes and systems to ensure the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.”
Holder recommended Kalanick be relieved of some leadership responsibilities, shifting them to a chief operating officer and other managers. The COO, yet to be hired, would be a partner with Kalanick.
Kalanick told employees he needs time off to grieve for his mother, who died in a May boating accident. He also said he’s responsible for the company’s current situation and needs to become a better leader — echoing comments the 40-year-old CEO made this year after a heated argument between Kalanick and an Uber driver over pay was captured on video.
Uber’s board said it would review Kalanick’s responsibilities and reassign some to others. The board will continue its search for a chief operating officer with a background in diversity and inclusion.
The board also recommended adding independent directors and replacing its chairman, co-founder Garrett Camp, with an independent chairman.