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Uber has hired the former US attorney general Eric Holder to investigate allegations of sexual harassment after an engineer went public with claims that she repeatedly faced sexism and discrimination at the ride-sharing company.

In a staff email shared with the Guardian on Monday, Ubers CEO, Travis Kalanick, said Holder would conduct an independent review and also revealed that women made up only 15% of the companys workforce in engineering, product management and scientist roles.

The hiring of Holder, who was attorney general under Barack Obama, comes as the description of harassment from Susan Fowler, a former site reliability engineer, has gone viral, prompting women across Silicon Valley to share stories of facing misconduct and discrimination in the male-dominated tech industry.

Its been a tough 24 hours. I know the company is hurting, Kalanick said in his email. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

Fowlers lengthy account on her blog alleged that management and the HR department at the San Francisco-based company frequently dismissed documented cases of sexual harassment, protected a repeat offender and threatened to fire her for raising concerns.

Fowler, who declined to comment further on Monday, alleged in her post that a manager immediately propositioned her for sex when she joined in late 2015, and that a director explained the dwindling number of women in her organization by saying the women of Uber just needed to step up and be better engineers.

Fowler, who now works for technology company Stripe, said a manager harassed her with messages on the company chat system but did not face any consequences from HR despite her providing screenshots. She said she later learned that other women had complained about his inappropriate behavior.

Upper management told me that he was a high performer -- and they wouldnt feel comfortable punishing him for what was probably just an innocent mistake, she wrote.

In one anecdote, she said managers had promised staff leather jackets but ultimately decided not to order them for women because there were not enough women in the organization to justify placing an order.

Following her complaint about that incident, an HR representative asked if I had ever considered that I might be the problem, she said. Her manager also later told her she was on thin ice and that if she filed another report, she would be fired, according to her account. Although an HR official admitted that this threat was illegal, no action was taken, she said.

On Monday, Kalanick said Uber board member Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post, would also assist in the investigation alongside Liane Hornsey, the companys newly hired chief human resources officer, and Angela Padilla, general counsel.

The harassment controversy comes as Kalanick struggles to move past the viral #DeleteUber campaign, which stemmed from his participation on Donald Trumps economic advisory council.

The company has long refused to release demographic data on its workforce, even though most major tech companies have in recent years begun disclosing data and publicly acknowledging their lack of diversity. Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter have all published staffing reports.

Kalanicks email only provided gender data, saying the 15% figure for women has not changed substantively in the last year. The email did not offer statistics on the number of women in senior roles, a key metric for diversity.

A spokeswoman declined to provide racial demographic data to the Guardian on Monday. The CEO said he and Hornsey would publish a broader diversity report in the coming months.

Fowler alleged that when she left Uber at the end of 2016, out of over 150 engineers in the site reliability engineering teams, only 3% were women.

This is not the first time a tech corporation has hired Holder in the wake of a discrimination scandal. In 2016, home-sharing startup Airbnb brought him in to investigate claims that users were refusing to rent their homes to black guests, a controversy that spread under the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack. The company subsequently implemented new staff and rules aimed at preventing discrimination, though some critics said the reforms were inadequate.

Image Credit: Uber (logo).

2017 Guardian Web under contract with NewsEdge/Acquire Media. All rights reserved.

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Uber Hires Eric Holder To Investigate Sexual Harassment Allegations - Sci-Tech Today

Uber said on Monday that it is tapping former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help conduct an investigation into sexual harassment claims made by a former employee.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick announced the move in a letter sent around to company employees which was seen by ABC News.

The announcement came a day after Kalanick vowed to immediately investigate the allegations contained in a long blog post written Sunday by Susan Fowler, who said that she faced sexual harassment while working as a site reliability engineer at the ride-hailing technology company from November 2015 to December 2016, and that her complaints to management had gone unheeded.

In his note to employees, Kalanick said he hired Eric Holder, Attorney General under President Barack Obama, and Tammy Albarran -- who are both partners at the Washington D.C.-based law firm Covington & Burling -- to "conduct an independent review" of Fowler's claims.

"I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do," Kalanick said in the memo. "What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace."

The company plans to hold an "all hands" meeting on Tuesday to "discuss whats happened and next steps," Kalanick's note said.

Fowler, who currently works for the online payments provider Stripe, wrote in her Sunday blog post that a manager of hers when she worked at Uber had sexually harassed her over online chats. She wrote that after she took screenshots of the conversation and sent them on to HR, no action was taken.

Upper management told me that he was a high performer (i.e. had stellar performance reviews from his superiors) and they wouldnt feel comfortable punishing him for what was probably just an innocent mistake on his part," Fowler wrote.

Kalanick on Sunday called the descriptions in Fowler's post "abhorrent," saying that the actions described have no place at Uber.

"I have just read Susan Fowler's blog," he said in the Sunday statement. "What she describes is abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in."

"It's the first time this has come to my attention so I have instructed Liane Hornsey our new Chief Human Resources Officer to conduct an urgent investigation into these allegations," he added. "We seek to make Uber a just workplace for everyone 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 also posted his reactions to Twitter on Sunday, embedding a link to Fowlers blog post.

Uber board member and Thrive Global CEO Arianna Huffington also promised a full investigation on Sunday and asked people to email her directly about the allegations.

According to Monday's memo, Huffington, along with the company's human resources chief, will attend the "all hands" meeting on Tuesday and will conduct "group and one-on-one listening sessions" to get feedback from employees.

ABC News could not independently verify the details of Fowlers story.

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Uber hires former Attorney General Eric Holder to probe ...

Uber has hired former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to help lead an investigation into claims of sexual harassment and discrimination that a former female employee made public over the weekend in a highly circulated blog post.

Chief executiveTravis Kalanick told employees in a memo Monday that the review will be conducted in short order and that it will involve, among others, the participation of Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post and an Uber board member, and Liane Hornsey, the companys recently hired human resources chief.

Susan Fowler Rigetti wrote that during her year working as an engineer at Uber she and other female staffers reported multiple instances of sexual harassment and discrimination to the companys human resources department.

Rigetti wrote that soon after starting at the company she received messages from a manager stating he was in an open relationship and that he made advances toward her. When she reported the incident to human resources, Rigetti wrote, she was told it was the managers first offense and she was advised to transfer teams. Rigetti wrotethat she later learned other women had also complained about the same manager.

It was such a blatant lie that there was really nothing I could do. There was nothing any of us could do. We all gave up on Uber HR and our managers after that, wrote Rigetti, who now works for online payment firm Stripe, according to her LinkedIn profile.

In a tweet on Sunday, Kalanick called the behavior described in Rigettis blog post abhorrent & against everything we believe in and pledged that anyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired.

The allegations come as the San Francisco-based ride-hailing service is still containing fallout over Kalanicks former role as an adviser to President Trump and the companys response to the executive order banningtravel by citizensfrom seven Muslim-majority countries.

During last months protests against the travel ban, Uber continued to provide rides to flyers arriving at New Yorks John F. Kennedy Airport even after the citys taxi cabs went on strike to show solidarity with protesters. That sparked a social media campaign calling on users to #DeleteUber, and those calls were renewed this weekend following Rigettis blog post.

In another incident, Rigetti alleges that all of the teams male engineers were given leather jackets as a company perk, but the female engineers were not because there were too few of them to qualify for a bulk discount. Rigetti reported the unequal treatment to human resources and was subsequently called into a meeting, she wrote.

The HR rep began the meeting by asking me if I had noticed that *I* was the common theme in all of the reports I had been making, and that if I had ever considered that I might be the problem, Rigetti wrote.

In his memo, Kalanick told employees that the review conducted by Holder will investigate both Rigettis claims and diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly.

What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace, Kalanick wrote to employees.

Uber is not the first Silicon Valley firm to face allegations of sex-based harassment and discrimination, and tech culture has been criticized in the past for being inhospitable to women and minorities. Many of the regions high-profile tech firms have come under fire for their lack of female and minority employees, particularly in engineering and other technical roles.

Kalanick wrote that 15.1 percent of Uber employees in scientist, product management and engineering roles are women, and that the company plans to publish a more comprehensive report on Ubers diversity in the coming months.

Uber representatives declined to comment for this story.

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Uber hires Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment ...

Uber is bringing on former U.S. Attorney General Eric HolderEric H. HolderUber taps Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment claims Ellison needles Perez for 'unverifiable' claim of DNC support With party in trouble, Dems hit voting laws MORE to "conduct an independent review" of sexual harassment claims made by a former employee.

"I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in a memo to the staff obtained by The Hill. ABC Newsfirst reported on Holder's hiring.

"What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace," Kalanick said in the memo.

Arianna Huffington, an Uber board member, is also taking part in the review.

The announcement comes days after a former Uber reliability engineer, Susan Fowler, wrote a blog post claiming that her complaints about being sexually harassed by one of the managers over online chats went unanswered.

Upper management told me that he was a high performer (i.e. had stellar performance reviews from his superiors) and they wouldnt feel comfortable punishing him for what was probably just an innocent mistake on his part," Fowler wrote on Sunday.

After reading Fowler's blog, Kalanick denounced the behavior described, calling it "abhorrent" and "against everything we believe in."

"Anyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired," he added.

According to the memo, Uber plans to have an "all hands" meeting on Tuesday to discuss the event and the appropriate next steps.

Here is the full memo from Uber.

Team,

Its been a tough 24 hours. I know the company is hurting, and understand everyone has been waiting for more information on where things stand and what actions we are going to take.

First, Eric Holder, former US Attorney General under President Obama, and Tammy Albarran -- both partners at the leading law firm Covington & Burling-- will conduct an independent review into the specific issues relating to the work place environment raised by Susan Fowler, as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly. Joining them will be Arianna Huffington, who sits on Ubers board, Liane Hornsey, our recently hired Chief Human Resources Officer, and Angela Padilla, our Associate General Counsel. I expect them to conduct this review in short order.

Second, Arianna is flying out to join me and Liane at our all hands meetingtomorrowto discuss whats happened and next steps. Arianna and Liane will also be doing smaller group and one-on-one listening sessions to get your feedback directly.

Third, there have been many questions about the gender diversity of Ubers technology teams. If you look across our engineering, product management, and scientist roles, 15.1% of employees are women and this has not changed substantively in the last year. As points of reference, Facebook is at 17%, Google at 18% and Twitter is at 10%. Liane and I will be working to publish a broader diversity report for the company in the coming months.

I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do. Every Uber employee should be proud of the culture we have and what we will build together over time. What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization, where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

Thanks,

Travis

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Uber taps Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment claims - The Hill

Uber is moving fast to try and quell backlash from a damning blog post that alleged the company suffers from rampant sexism and failed at every turn to solve the issue. According to an internal email sent to Uber employees this afternoon, CEO Travis Kalanick says his company has brought on former US Attorney General Eric Holder to oversee an independent review of the issues raised by former employee Susan Fowler, whose blog post on Sunday about her work experience went viral and resulted in widespread outrage.

Fowler, who began working at Uber in November 2015 as a site reliability engineer, says she was subjected to sexual harassment from her manager on her very first day. She also describes in great detail how Ubers HR department failed at virtually every step of the way to take her complaints seriously and reprimand or fire the harasser, noting how her superiors even went so far as to suggest she would be fired if she continued complaining about abuse. The #DeleteUber hashtag, which sprung up in the aftermath of Trumps immigration ban, has already begun trending once more in response to Fowlers post.

Holder will work with Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and an Uber board member, alongside Ubers HR chief Liane Hornsey and Angela Padilla, an in-house lawyer. Uber critics are already making the obvious point that a review featuring a board member, the head of HR, and an in-house lawyer is not exactly independent.

@MikeIsaac how can an independent review into HR be joined by the head of HR, an in-house lawyer, and a board member/

Even Holder, despite his history, is not entirely an outsider. Uber retains his law firm, Covington & Burling, for advice on safety issues. Holder even advocated for Uber last summer by sending letters to officials to drop policies mandating fingerprint-based background checks for drivers. Holders former chief of staff and Covington employee, Margaret Richardson, also sits on Ubers safety advisory board.

Kalanick doesnt seem to take note of this fact in his email to employees. He does, however, reiterate Ubers abysmal gender diversity statistics and pledge to ferry the company through this crisis and ultimately address these issues. I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do, Kalanick writes. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization, where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

Here is Kalanicks email in full, as obtained by Recode:

Team,

Its been a tough 24 hours. I know the company is hurting, and understand everyone has been waiting for more information on where things stand and what actions we are going to take.

First, Eric Holder, former US Attorney General under President Obama, and Tammy Albarran -- both partners at the leading law firm Covington & Burling-- will conduct an independent review into the specific issues relating to the work place environment raised by Susan Fowler, as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly. Joining them will be Arianna Huffington, who sits on Ubers board, Liane Hornsey, our recently hired Chief Human Resources Officer, and Angela Padilla, our Associate General Counsel. I expect them to conduct this review in short order.

Second, Arianna is flying out to join me and Liane at our all hands meeting tomorrow to discuss whats happened and next steps. Arianna and Liane will also be doing smaller group and one-on-one listening sessions to get your feedback directly.

Third, there have been many questions about the gender diversity of Ubers technology teams. If you look across our engineering, product management, and scientist roles, 15.1% of employees are women and this has not changed substantively in the last year. As points of reference, Facebook is at 17%, Google at 18% and Twitter is at 10%. Liane and I will be working to publish a broader diversity report for the company in the coming months.

I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do. Every Uber employee should be proud of the culture we have and what we will build together over time. What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization, where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

Thanks,

Travis

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Uber's review of sexism allegations will be run by Eric Holder and some Uber employees - The Verge