March 6
Uber issues a swift rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. It is the first major tech company to do so, according to BuzzFeed’s Hamza Shaban.
Uber is the first major tech company to respond to @BuzzFeedNews on President Trump's new travel ban: "unjust and wrong" pic.twitter.com/vaxMXfs9kt
— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) March 6, 2017
Last month, CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down from Trump’s business advisory council after the #DeleteUber boycott. The company took flack in late January for its muted response to Trump’s original executive order, which was ultimately struck down by a federal court.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Lee Schafer calls for Jeff Jones, president of ride sharing at Uber, to use the same tough love he employed at Target after a 2014 data breach to save Uber’s reputation.
March 5
"An uptick in job applications from Uber employees" hits the job market, with recruiters saying a lack of faith in senior leadership is driving staffers to the exits, according to the Financial Times.
March 3
The New York Times reports Uber used a number of methods to get around local law enforcement in areas where officials were trying to "clamp down on the ride-hailing service." Called "Greyball," one of the tools reportedly identifies officials who used the Uber app as part of a sting operation and helps drivers evade them.
February 28
Kalanick is caught berating an Uber driver in dashboard footage handed over to Bloomberg.
Fawzi Kamel, the driver who says he has gone bankrupt as a result of the company’s practices, expresses his frustrations to Kalanick in the recording. Eventually, the Uber CEO loses his temper, saying, "Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!"
When the app prompts Kamel to rate Kalanick, the driver reportedly gives him a single star.
Kalanick apologizes to Kamel and Uber’s workforce, humbly saying, "It’s clear this video is a reflection of me — and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up."
February 22
A New York Times exposé pulls back the secrecy surrounding the company, revealing an "aggressive, unrestrained workplace culture" it describes as "Hobbesian."
February 20
Kalanick says in a company-wide email that Uber has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran, a fellow partner at Covington & Burling, to investigate claims former employee Susan Fowler made about the company’s workplace a day earlier. Board member Arianna Huffington, chief human resources officer Liane Hornsey, and associate general counsel Angela Padilla are supporting the probe.
February 19
Fowler, a former Uber engineer, publishes a blog in which she describes being sexually harassed by her direct supervisor and human resources ignoring her claims. Kalanick directs Hornsey to investigate the allegations; Huffington says on Twitter that she supports the inquiry.