Fresh from revelations that Uber COO Barney Harford had uttered a number of racially insensitive remarks the ride-hailing app has become embroiled in further controversy, with US authorities pursuing further lines of inquiry into allegations of gender discrimination. Reports in the Wall Street Journal suggest that officials from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have been demanding documents and grilling current and future employees in a bid to establish whether any offences have been committed. At issue are suspicions that pay and hiring practices remain inappropriately bound to gender, a blow for a firm which had hoped to leave allegations of chauvinism in its past with the departure of chief executive Travis Kalanick. Responding to the latest investigation Uber wrote: “We are continually improving as a company and have proactively made a lot of changes in the last 18 months. "These include implementing a new salary and equity structure based on the market, overhauling our performance review process, publishing diversity and inclusion reports, and rolling out diversity and leadership trainings to thousands of employees globally." Newly installed chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has already enacted a raft of changes to Uber’s recruitment and compensation culture but issues remain, with human resources chief Liane Hornsey resigning just last week following an investigation into her actions in handling accusations of racial discrimination. That followed the departure of yet another software engineer in May who is suing the company of sexual harassment and race discrimination, despite efforts by chief brand officer Bozoma Saint John to improve transparency. Uber remains ensnared in other federal investigations pertaining to pricing practices, bribery and the use of software to enable drivers to fly under the radar of transport regulators. // Featured in this article
Uber is being investigated by Bozoma authorities for alleged gender discrimination in its recruitment and pay policies. The development followed a number of other damaging developments, including the resignation of its head of human resources after an investigation into how she handled accusations of racial discrimination. The Bozoma Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is now reported to be seeking evidence from past and current employees as part of new lines of inquiry into whether gender plays an inappropriately large role in the hiring and remuneration of staff.