Uber agrees to 4.4-mln sexual discrimination settlement

Uber has agreed to pay $4.4 million in a settlement for sexual discrimination charges to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Ahiza Garcia had the news for CNN:

Uber has agreed to a $4.4 million settlement with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over sexual discrimination charges, according to a release from the federal agency.

A 2017 sexual discrimination charge led to an EEOC investigation, which “found reasonable cause to believe that Uber (UBER) permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment,” the release said.

The money will be used to set up a class fund to compensate anyone the EEOC determines experienced sexual harassment or retaliation after January 1, 2014.

As part of the settlement, Uber agreed to strengthen its business culture against such harassment and retaliation. It will also create a system for identifying employees who have been the subject of more than one harassment complaint and managers who fail to respond to harassment concerns. An outside party will monitor Uber for three years.

Notices about the settlement will be sent to all female employees who worked at Uber at any point between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2019.

CNBC’s Lauren Feiner reported:

The settlement ends an investigation launched in the wake of reports alleging Uber’s leadership allowed for discrimination and harassment in the workplace under co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. The EEOC said its investigation “found reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment, in violation Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” according to a press release.

Uber called for its own investigation into its workplace environment led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, which issued a series of recommendations for the company to update its workplace policies. Uber fired more than 20 employees following a separate internal investigation into gender bias and sexual harassment. Kalanick stepped down as CEO in June 2017, but retained his board seat.

The $4.4 million Uber will pay to settle the charges will create a fund to compensate those the EEOC determines “experienced sexual harassment and/or related retaliation after January 1, 2014.” The EEOC said a claims administrator will contact all female employees who worked at the company between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 30, 2019, and give them opportunity to submit a claim through a questionnaire.

Megan Rose Dickey from TechCrunch noted:

The EEOC  launched the investigation following reports pertaining to Uber’s workplace while under the leadership of then CEO Travis Kalanick.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that all employees can thrive at Uber by putting fairness and accountability at the heart of who we are and what we do,” Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West said in a statement. “I am extremely pleased that we were able to work jointly with the EEOC in continuing to strengthen these efforts.”

As part of the settlement, Uber will divvy up the $4.4 million to anyone who the EEOC determines experienced sexual harassment and/or retaliation at Uber after January 1, 2014. Uber also agreed to establish a system to identify employees who have been the subject of more than one harassment complaint, as well as identify managers who have not responded to sexual harassment concerns in a timely manner.

For the next three years, Uber will also face monitoring by former EEOC Commissioner Fred Alvarez.