Uber CEO Orders 'Urgent' Investigation After Sex Harassment Allegations
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 2/20/2017, 4:30 p.m.
Uber
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Uber said it's opening an "urgent investigation" after a former employee made public allegations of sexism and harassment at the company.
Susan Fowler, an engineer who published a blog post on Sunday detailing her experience at Uber, claimed the company refused to do more than issue a warning to a superior after she and other women complained about sexual harassment.
Fowler wrote that she was blamed after making a number of reports detailing gender discrimination. Another superior threatened to fire her for bringing her concerns to human resources, Fowler wrote.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, in a statement issued several hours after Fowler's post, said that what Fowler described "is abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in."
Kalanick said he had not known of Fowler's claims. He said he has instructed the company's chief human resources officer to "to conduct an urgent investigation into these allegations."
"We seek to make Uber a just workplace and there can be absolutely no place for this kind of behavior at Uber -- and anyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired," Kalanick said.
Fowler did not immediately respond to CNNMoney's request for comment.
Uber is taking heat online over Fowler's post. The #DeleteUber hashtag has been revived; it was trending several weeks ago after Uber's initial response to President Trump's immigration ban.
Uber investor Jason Calacanis responded to the controversy, saying in a tweet that what Fowler described is "not acceptable."
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