A Popular Car Service Drowning in Scandals.
With the overwhelming prices placed on cars, and car insurance these days, people have quickly resorted to using Uber for their transportation services. Along with Lyft, Uber has become one of the few companies dominating the car service industry, putting most taxi companies to shame, however things haven’t been looking so great back at headquarters. Just this week Uber Technologies Inc. has fired more than 20 employees. A blog post written by former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler back in February,(which included claims of sexual harassment and discrimination) initiated a company-wide investigation. Prior to the investigation the company had already suffered a drastic drop in stocks, which reportedly knocked the company's value down by billions, after C.E.O. Travis Kalanick decided to join President Trump’s business advisory council. Although Kalanick has since removed himself from Trump’s business advisory council, the discovery of potential scandals stemming from Uber’s human resources department, has sent them into a bit of a crisis in regards to their representation. The company's damaged image has forced them to hire 2 new senior executives to re-brand the company.
The Investigation On Uber Technologies Inc.’s human resources department was led by Perkins Coie LLP Law Firm. The Law firm reviewed over 200 claims, which probably explains why former U.S. Attorney General will be leading another investigation on the company. Uber has been experiencing unfortunate events in the form of a domino effect, after Fowler outed her former employers. Senior executives in charge of areas like engineering and policy and communications have also left their positions due to how these claims have been overlooked and mishandled. Although only 20 employees have been fired so far, there are 30 employees aside from those fired, who are currently in counseling, and an additional 7 have received warnings from the company. The issues reported are not restricted to being harassment allegations, some claims have also been related to bigotry and retribution.
A large company as successful as Uber does not need to rely on keeping it’s innocence for the sake of its publics, however it should know how to properly and publicly address a crisis such as this one. Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick, who has been caught on video arguing with an Uber driver, only makes it difficult for individuals to save the company from future embarrassment. The two newly hired senior executives hired, Bozoma Saint John and Frances Frei hailing from Harvard University and Apple inc., truly have their work cut out for them if they wish to have the app re-installed on numerous phones around the globe.
What are your thoughts on the company's approach to solving this complicated calamity?