Amidst the sexual harassment cases that is widespread in Uber, the company is undergoing an investigation led by Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general who is now a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling.
In a recent development reported by Recode, Uber had fired Eric Alexander, the president of business in the Asia Pacific, for obtaining medical records of a woman who had been raped during a ride in Delhi in 2014. The records were then showed to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and SVP Emil Michael.
“The 2014 crime in Delhi was absolutely horrific and something no one should ever go through. Uber responded by working closely with law enforcement and the prosecution to support their investigation and see the perpetrator brought to justice. We have taken significant steps to improve our safety processes and policies in recent years to ensure the safety of everyone who uses the app. We remain committed to the riders and driver partners who rely on Uber every day in India,” Amit Jain, President, Uber India in a statement.
While the company came under government’s scrutiny post that, Uber had publicly apologized and carefully onboarded the drivers in its platform.
Related Read: Uber India Warns Cabbies- No Flirting, Touching or Physical Intimacy with Customers!
Although, the matter was later resolved in court, Alexander and other Uber top executives had trouble believing that the entire incident was not fake. Alexander reached India to investigate the claims, which was still unclear if he did it on his own or was directed to do so.
Mr. Alexander, who was based in Hong Kong, is a longtime confidant of Emil Michael and Travis Kalanick. The three men once attended a South Korean escort bar together, which prompted a complaint to Uber’s human resources department according to reports.
The company had already fired over 20 people in relation to the matter. Aside from those fired, 31 employees are in counseling or training, while seven received written warnings from the company, an Uber spokesman said. The issues deal with harassment, discrimination, retaliation and other HR matters.
The world’s most valuable startup had been trying to get its name clean from harassment cases for way too long. It had even fired its VP of Engineering, Amit Singhal early this year, as he failed to disclose a sexual harassment allegation made against him at former employer Google during the hiring process.
Related Read: Losses, Cases, Sexual Harassment- Uber is Ready to Rejuvenate
Image Source: Hindustan Times
