TRAVIS PUSH-BACK
Uber CEO’s frantic fight against likely suspension
Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick, facing a likely suspension from the ridehailing outfit in the wake of a sexual harassment probe into the company, was fighting Monday evening to avoid any separation from the tech startup.
Ironically, Kalanick was telling the board that if he was suspended, Uber would be left with a management void, according to a report.
Any void, critics said, would be tied to the sexist workplace environment that Kalanick did little to change.
Uber has been caught up in a tsunami of bad news regarding its workplace culture and management.
On Monday, that storm swept away its latest casualty, Senior VP of Business Emil Michael — Kalanick’s closest confidante.
Michael, who was the key executive in wrangling cash from investors, came under fire in 2014 when he suggested the company dig up dirt on critical journalists.
The same year, Michael led a company outing to a South Korean escort bar, it was reported earlier this year.
Kalanick’s then-girlfriend, Gabi Holzwarth, who broke up with him last year, disclosed the visit to The Information.
Kalanick and Michael tried to persuade her not to make the escort-bar visit public, she said.
Complaints about the hostile work environment forced Uber to hire two outside law firms to investigate.
In March, Uber President Jeff Jones quit amid the swirling controversy.
In May, Gautam Gupta, Uber’s head of finance, left the company.
Last week, Uber’s head of its Asia-Pacific operation was fired after he accessed the medical records of a woman who was raped in India during a Uber ride.
That executive, Eric Alexander, would share the medical records with Kalanick and other top brass, according to reports.
The probe by the two law firms resulted last week in the firing of 20 employees.
Several more remain in limbo and subject to discipline.
Uber’s board decided over the weekend to act on the law firms’ recommendations, Reuters reported.
The probe was overseen by former US Attorney General Eric Holder. One of its recommendations called for Kalanick’s departure.
But Kalanick was fighting that recommendation on Monday — claiming his ouster, even a temporary one, would leave “gaping leadership holes” at Uber, The Information reported.
The recommendations, set for release on Tuesday, will reveal whether Kalanick still has support in a company rocked by allegations that management tolerated a hostile work environment for female workers.
An Egyptian immigrant, Michael praised Uber in a farewell e-mail to staff for being “welcoming to people of all genders, sexual orientations, national origins and educational backgrounds.”
Uber declined to comment on the probe or whether Kalanick faced a suspension or firing from the company.
The turmoil is sure to push back Uber’s expected IPO from 2017 to 2018 — at the earliest.