An Uber worker says he was fired for reporting sexual harassment

A complaint that was formally filed with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on May 18, 2017 accuses Uber of having fired him after he approached the company’s human resources (HR) department to question their handling of gender-based discrimination at the company’s headquarters.

In the male employee’s complaint, he chronicles how, in late 2015, a female co-worker of his approached him looking for him to help her. She wanted him to intervene and put an end to what she perceived was sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination she was being subjected to from her male boss.

It was only after the male employee heard stories from other women who also worked with the company that he ultimately approached someone in the company’s HR department. He alleges that a representative with that office told him that the company received plenty of similar accusations phoned in on a regular basis. The HR representative made no promises of investigating any of the claims.

By March of 2016, just a short while after going to the HR department to report his concerns, the employee was fired.

This employee’s accusations come at a time when the workplace environment at Uber is being investigated by Eric Holder, the former United States Attorney General. This study was initiated by Uber’s board.

They commissioned it after one of the company’s former engineers wrote a well-publicized blog post detailing her very own experiences in being both harassed and discriminated against while working for the company. Holder’s findings are expected by the company on June 5, 2017.

Under current California law, an employee cannot be retaliated against for having reported illegal activities such as gender discrimination or sexual harassment. If the man and his Los Angeles County employment litigation attorney are successful in proving that he was fired for reporting this impropriety, then he may be eligible for lost wages and other damages.

Source: Business Insider, “An ex-Uber employee claims he was fired for reporting sexual harassment,” Biz Carson, May 18, 2017