Uber board member Arianna Huffington doubles down on position that sexual harassment at Uber isn't 'systemic'
Richard Drew/AP
On Tuesday, news broke that Uber had fired more than 20 employees as part of its internal investigation into sexual harassment and other bad behavior at the company. This investigation by outside law firm Perkins Coie started in February after a former employee, Susan Fowler, said in a personal blog post that she was sexually harassed and experienced gender bias during her time at Uber.
But even after the investigation, and the firings, Huffington maintains that sexual harassment at Uber isn't systemic.
"I never said there wasn't a systemic cultural problem, I was talking specifically about sexual harassment," Huffington told CNBC on Wednesday, in reference to her comments in March that the harassment at Uber wasn't systemic. "It all depends on your definition of systemic."
Most applications of the word "systemic," in this instance, would center around whether Uber's management system failed to adequately address sexual harassment, and in doing so promoted its continuation.
As Dan Primack pointed out in the Axios Pro Rata newsletter, the key number from the Perkins Coie report is 37%, which is the amount of existing HR claims that led to further action (termination, warning, training, or counseling). That is, by most reasonable standards, a huge failure on Uber's part. And it's hard to argue that the system Uber had in place was not - unintentionally or intentionally - designed to mismanage these complaints.
As a result of the investigation, the company has already fired 20 employees. Another 31 employees are in training and seven have been issued final warnings. 57 claims remain under review and the company didn't take action in 100 of the claims, according to Uber.
According to Uber, here's the breakdown of all the 215 complaints:
- Discrimination: 54
- Sexual harassment: 47
- Unprofessional behavior: 45
- Bullying: 33
- Harassment (other): 19
- Retaliation: 13
- Physical security: 3
- Wrongful termination: 1
Additional reporting by Biz Carson.
- I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
- Some Tesla factory workers realized they were laid off when security scanned their badges and sent them back on shuttles, sources say
- I tutor the children of some of Dubai's richest people. One of them paid me $3,000 to do his homework.
- Why are so many elite coaches moving to Western countries?
- Global GDP to face a 19% decline by 2050 due to climate change, study projects
- 5 things to keep in mind before taking a personal loan
- Markets face heavy fluctuations; settle lower taking downtrend to 4th day
- Move over Bollywood, audio shows are starting to enter the coveted ‘100 Crores Club’