Are you familiar with #DeleteUber? Hearing it for the first time? I suppose not. Uber has recently seen users delete their apps for one of two reasons — first for Uber CEO Travis Kalanick being on Trump’s advisory council and second for sexual harassment against the ride-hailing giant. But, it now seems to be responding to this movement by surfacing notifications to users deleting their accounts.
Initially reported by Mashable, several users who have tried deleting their Uber accounts are now receiving notifications from the ride-hailing giant. This letter (in the form of an email notification) reads that the company is “deeply hurting” after allegations about sexual harassment in the workplace. And this is not a hoax, an Uber spokesperson has confirmed the same.
@Bro_Pair @Uber #deleteuber pic.twitter.com/QAWOX87Wtj
— Mr. To Damn Good (@FamousCeleb) February 23, 2017
The said letter reiterates that instances of sexual harassment described by former Uber employee Susan Fowler are “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.” The ride-hailing doesn’t further comment on the allegations but instead states that they’ve hired the services of former US Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct and independent review of the situation.
This investigation is further being led by Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington (also Uber’s board member) in support of new Chief Human Resources Officer Liane Hornsey. It also involves other active employees of the ride-hailing giant, which is being questioned by analysts. They are of the opinion that the investigation doesn’t seem independent if internal members are involved.
But, in their email notification, Uber further adds,
We believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do and it’s everyone’s number one priority to create change in the coming months and years.
In addition, Uber says that they are highly supportive of diversity and inclusion of individuals at the company more broadly. The ride-hailing giant has recently also hired Bernard Coleman III as their first-ever diversity officer in January. He is not only working on the task of making the company stand against sexism and more acceptable but also on the preparation of their first diversity report.
For those unaware, Uber had recently been accused of harbouring a holistic and sexist workplace environment by a former employee. The conditions within the organisation (which has been confirmed by other employees) have been described by Susan Fowler in her blog post. She says that her manager solicited her for sex on her first day of work and her complaints were repeatedly ignored by the HR department.
