Uber fires 20 employees as part of sexual harassment investigation

Uber has fired 20 employees in recent months, the company said at a staff meeting Tuesday, as part of a wide-ranging investigation of the climate and culture at the popular ride-hailing service.

The report of the firings came from an attorney at the Perkins Coie law firm, which Uber hired to assist in a broader sexual harassment investigation at the company and which made a presentation at the company’s weekly staff meeting Tuesday. The firings, the company confirmed Tuesday afternoon, were for sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, retaliation, bullying and physical safety — most but not all in the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

The company has faced a series of allegations of misconduct this year, including a criminal investigation by the Justice Department for using software to trick regulators and avoid government scrutiny. Taken together, the probes have tarnished the image of one of Silicon Valley’s most aggressive and widely emulated companies and its embattled chief executive, Travis Kalanick.

No names of fired employees or details of the alleged harassment have publicly emerged.

The firings represent Uber’s latest effort to quell a series of escalating controversies that have shaken the 8-year-old company to its core, analysts said. In addition to sexual harassment, Uber is facing a litany of issues, including a slew of executive departures, the federal criminal investigation over potentially deceiving law enforcement and an admission that it underpaid tens of thousands of drivers.