Uber has been grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late. The company became embroiled in a huge controversy when Susan Fowler, an ex-employee, came out and talked about the harassment she faced during her tenure at Uber. The company has been trying to make things right but finds itself facing fresh trouble after allegations of intimating communication with the intent of finding personal information associated with Miss. Fowler.
Speaking with Recode, Uber attempted to clear its name. The company has strongly refuted claims that it is behind calls being made to people familiar with Miss. Fowler, with the intent of seeking personal information about her. The ride-hailing company said that it was speaking for all the different groups, and individuals that are looking into the matter — including law firm Covington and Burling, and board member Ariana Huffington.
Miss. Fowler recently spoke out over Twitter, asking people not to divulge any personal information about her.
In a tweet, she said:
Research for the smear campaign has begun. If you are contacted by anyone asking for personal and intimate info about me, please report asap.
She also said that she was unaware of the people contacting her friends and acquaintances and seeking information about her. Meanwhile, since Uber has denied all association with the efforts in this direction, who is doing this? Of course, it could be something blown entirely out of proportion. Maybe a couple of people were contacted by reporters seeking to create a story on the matter and suddenly, everyone started seeing an Uber investigator behind every bush.
I say this because despite its mistake in not taking up the complaint when it was originally filed, Uber has since owned up and appears to be making efforts to investigate the matter. However, I could be wrong. After all, some of the company’s own investors have expressed discontent with the direction the investigations are taking. It is important to keep everything in mind before jumping to conclusions.
Meanwhile, this is just going to further compound Uber’s problems. Already, there are hordes of people calling out Uber for its alleged connection with the investigations into Miss Fowler’s private life. The company would do better to come out with some concrete measures and show that it was actually making serious efforts to investigate the matter and ensure that such a thing did not take place in the future.
