Uber Forks Out $4.4M To Settle Claims Of Rampant Sexual Harassment And Retaliation
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Uber has agreed to pay $4.4m to settle claims it allowed employees to be sexually harassed and then allowed retaliation against them when they came forward.
In a deal struck with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week, the ride broker has agreed to put the money into a fund that will be used by the EEOC to pay back those employees who were faced with harassment. The commission described Uber as allowing "a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment."
The fund will be available to employees who believe they experienced harassment and/or retaliation for reporting harassment between January 2014 and June 2019. That period covers the bulk of the reign of Travis Kalanick, the founder and CEO, whose "tech bro" culture was blamed for creating a notoriously hostile climate for women working at Uber.
Kalanick would eventually step down from the company and, under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber has undertaken a prolonged charm offensive in an effort to clean up its public image.
The $4.4m fund will be the latest step in that effort, as Uber has agreed to not only pay up the money, but also establish what was described as "a system for identifying employees who have been the subject of more than one harassment complaint and for identifying managers who fail to respond to concerns of sexual harassment in a timely manner."
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.