UBER CEO LIKELY TO TAKE LEAVE OF ABSENCE

SANFRANCISCO: Uber Technologies Inc. chief executive officer Travis Kalanick is likely to take a leave of absence from the troubled ride-hailing company, but no final decision has yet been made, according to a person familiar with the outcome of the company’s Sunday board meeting.

Emil Michael, senior vicepresident and a close Kalanick ally, has left the company, the source said.

At the Sunday meeting, the company’s board adopted a series of recommendations from the law firm of former US Attorney General Eric Holder following a sprawling, multi-month investigation into Uber’s culture and practices, according to a board representative.

Uber will tell employees about the recommendations on Tuesday, said the representative, who declined to be identified.

Holder and his law firm were retained by Uber in February to investigate company practices after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and the lack of a suitable response by senior managers.

The recommendations in Holder’s firm’s report force greater controls on spending, human resources and other areas where executives led by Kalanick have had a surprising amount of autonomy for a company with more than 12,000 employees, a source familiar with the matter said.

The world’s most valuable venture-backed private company has found itself at a crossroads as its rough-and-tumble approach to local regulations and handling employees and drivers has led to a series of problems.

It is facing a criminal probe by the US Department of Justice over its use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, people with knowledge of the mattter have told Reuters.

Last week, Uber said it fired 20 staff after another law firm looked into 215 cases of sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behaviour, bullying and other complaints.

Even a temporary departure by Kalanick would be a shock for the Silicon Valley start-up world, where company founders in recent years have enjoyed more autonomy and become synonymous with their firms. Uber’s image, culture and practices have been largely defined by Kalanick’s brash approach, company insiders and investors previously told Reuters.