Uber Founder Resigns After Investors’ Outrage Over Workplace Culture
Aug 25, 2017
Los Angeles, CA (Law Firm Newswire) August 25, 2017 – Travis Kalanick resigned from his position as CEO of Uber, a ride-hailing company that he helped build and found in 2009, after a shareholder revolt made it impossible for him to stay on as CEO.
In recent months, the company faced negative attention regarding its work culture, which has been linked to Kalanick’s leadership. Spurred by these recent controversies, investors and shareholders demanded that Kalanick step down from his position as CEO of the transportation giant.
The outrage surrounding Kalanick’s leadership began earlier this year when Kalanick joined President Trump’s business advisory council, inspiring over 200,000 people to delete the ride-hailing app. Faced with further customer backlash after Trump’s immigration ban, Kalanick was forced to resign from the council in February.
More significantly, in February, a former Uber engineer described in a blog post how she was sexually harassed and the company did nothing to investigate her complaints. Her story paved a path for further complaints by Uber employees, which led to an internal investigation that resulted in the firing of 20 employees for sexual harassment in the workplace.
Additionally, Uber is facing an intellectual property lawsuit from Waymo, a self-driving car company that operates under Google, as well as a federal inquiry into a software tool the company used to avoid law enforcement.
The investors, in a letter titled “Moving Uber Forward,” addressed their concerns and demanded new leadership. “I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” said Kalanick in a statement. He will remain on Uber’s board of directors.
The five shareholders also demanded that the company fill two of the empty board seats with independent directors, as well as an immediate search for a new chief executive and experienced chief financial officer.
Since the resignation of Kalanick, the company announced to its drivers, who are independent contractors, that they will soon be allowed to accept tips on their rides, as well as other new changes in the company.
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