Uber staff fired over harassment claims

UBER has fired more than 20 employees after an internal investigation into complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and other violations of company policies.

The firings included both managers and lower-level workers, some of whom retaliated against employees after they complained about bad conduct at the taxi firm, said Bobbie Wilson, a lawyer involved in the company-wide investigation.

The firm has been criticised for its treatment of women in the workplace after former engineer Susan Fowler posted a blog in February about sexual harassment at the company.

Ms Fowler wrote that on her first day at work her boss propositioned her in a series of messages.

The investigation by law firm Perkins Coie is separate from one being carried out by Eric Holder, the former US attorney general. He is likely to make broader recommendations on how to change Uber’s culture when his report is released publicly next week.

“This is enormous. For corporate allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct to lead to firing 20 people, I know of no comparable corporate ac- tion. It’s unprecedented,” said Debra Katz, a partner with Katz Marshall & Banks, a Washington-based law firm.

Separately, Uber announced that it had hired Apple marketing executive Bozoma Saint John in an effort to improve its corporate brand image.

After Ms Fowler’s blog posting, Uber set up a 24-hour hotline to take complaints from employees, and hired Perkins Coie to investigate them. The firm dealt with 215 complaints, 57 of which remain under investigation. The hotline will remain in operation.