Uber fires 20 employees after harassment probe

On Tuesday, Uber fired 20 employees following an investigation into sexual harassment and other previously ignored complaints at the company.

Techcrunch reported:

At an all-hands meeting today, Uber released the results of a Perkins Coie LLP investigation into 215 employees accused of harassment. As a result of that probe, about 100 employees have been dismissed from those claims. But 20 were fired, another 57 are still under investigation, 31 are in some type of counseling or training and seven have received a written warning.

In February, Uber announced that it would investigate claims of harassment and discrimination following a former female employee’s explosive account of her year working as an engineer at the company. At the time, Uber brought in some big names, including Arianna Huffington and former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to help with the investigation.

The law firm Perkins Coie ultimately led the investigation.

This week’s announcement, which reached the public via the company’s communications Twitter account, is the result of the investigation’s first phase:

1/ Today we updated employees re: Perkins Coie investigation. 20 terminated. 31 in training. 7 final warnings. 57 still under review.

— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) June 6, 2017

2/ And here’s a further breakdown of the 215 claims: http://pic.twitter.com/yLhFGvgmlJ

— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) June 6, 2017

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There were few details beyond the announcement, as some wondered about severance and steps the company was taking to support those employees who felt they were harassed.

News surrounding this case is far from over.

Holder has reportedly made recommendations based on the results of the Perkins Coie investigation, and Uber plans to announce further actions based on his recommendations in the coming days.

The company recently reported a $708 million loss in the first quarter after posting a $2.8 billion loss in 2016, though analysts don’t seem overly concerned.

As it eyes an IPO, many speculate that Uber is trying to quell investors’ fears with the work it’s doing to solve its harassment/discrimination problem.

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