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Ride-sharing company Uber has said it will conduct an \u201curgent investigation\u201d into claims of sexual harassment at the company.<\/p>\n
A blog post written by former Uber engineer Susan Fowler detailed a litany of instances during her time at the firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat she describes is abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in,\u201d Uber boss Travis Kalanick said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversy is just the latest to surround the company, particularly on issues around the treatment of women at the firm.<\/p>\n
Ms Fowler wrote that shortly after joining the San Francisco-based company, her new manager made sexual advances towards her.<\/p>\n
She wrote: \u201cHe was trying to stay out of trouble at work, he said, but he couldn\u2019t help getting in trouble, because he was looking for women to have sex with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lack of diversity<\/strong><\/p>\nAfter reporting the incident to Human Resources, Ms Fowler said she was told no further action would be taken as it was a \u201cfirst offense\u201d. She said she was told she should try and join an alternative team at the company.<\/p>\n
From here, she goes on to list several instances where she felt poorly treated. She cites data \u2013 which the BBC has been unable to verify \u2013 that the number of female engineers at the company has plummeted over the past year.<\/p>\n
Unlike Google, Apple, Facebook and others, Uber chooses not to disclose figures about diversity at the company.<\/p>\n
On Sunday evening, Mr Kalanick responded to the allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have just read Susan Fowler\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe seek to make Uber a just workplace and there can be absolutely no place for this kind of behaviour at Uber.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BBC has reached out to several high-profile Uber investors for comment.<\/p>\n
Posting on Twitter, Jason Calacanis \u2013 an early investor in the firm \u2013 wrote: \u201cWhat she [Ms Fowler] describes is obviously not acceptable. Trust management will take swift action.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Leather jacket reward\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nThe row is bringing concerns over sexism in Silicon Valley once again to the fore \u2013 with Ms Fowler\u2019s blog post provoking a sense of deja vu for many in the industry.<\/p>\n
While Ms Fowler\u2019s post was about Uber, several noted on Sunday that her experiences were instantly recognisable to other women working for firms in Silicon Valley and the wider technology industry.<\/p>\n
That said, some of the anecdotes detailed in Ms Fowler\u2019s 3,000-word post range from the shocking to the farcical.<\/p>\n
After making the initial complaint about her manager, she said she was threatened with getting negative performance review scores \u2013 making it harder to gain promotions or transfers with in the company.<\/p>\n
She said she was chastised for keeping email evidence of her complaints.<\/p>\n
One of the more bizarre instances involved leather jackets. Ms Fowler described how the team she was on had been promised leather jackets as a thank you for their work, and the team was measured up for the right sizes.<\/p>\n
Ms Fowler wrote: \u201cOne day, all of the women (there were, I believe, six of us left in the org) received an email saying that no leather jackets were being ordered for the women because there were not enough women in the organisation to justify placing an order.<\/p>\n
\u201cI replied and said that I was sure Uber could find room in their budget to buy leather jackets for the, what, six women if it could afford to buy them for over a hundred and twenty men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe director replied back, saying that if we women really wanted equality, then we should realise we were getting equality by not getting the leather jackets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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