Benchmark Capital Sues Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick For 'Selfish' Fraud

Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has been sued by venture capital firm and Uber shareholder Benchmark Capital, according to Axios.

In the filing, which was filed in Delaware Thursday, the firm issues several significant claims against Kalanick, accusing him of fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty in order to “to entrench himself on Uber’s Board of Directors and increase his power over Uber for his own selfish ends.”

Read: Uber CEO's Departure Comes After Months of Scandals

Specifically, Benchmark Capital’s complaint focuses on a June 2016 decision to expand Uber’s board of voting directors from eight to 11 seats. Benchmark was one of Uber's earliest investors and the firm currently owns roughly a 13 percent stake in the company.

At the time, Benchmark alleges that Kalanick failed to disclose pending controversies like its trade secrets lawsuit with competitor Waymo and allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic work culture to the board. In the suit, Benchmark said it would not have allowed the vote to proceed if it had known about the various controversies that erupted around Uber this year. Instead, Kalanick moved to take one of the board seats upon his resignation earlier this year.

In addition, Benchmark alleges that Kalanick has refused to follow through on a previous agreement to make the two board seats open to approval by the entire board of directors. As part of the suit, Benchmark is seeking to have Kalanick removed from the board of directors entirely and invalidate the vote that led to the three additional seats.

In a statement via Axios, a spokesperson for Kalanick blasted the lawsuit from Benchmark and said it was a way for the firm to work against the best interests of Uber and its employees.

"Benchmark's lawsuit is a transparent attempt to deprive Travis Kalanick of his rights as a founder and shareholder and to silence his voice regarding the management of the company he helped create," Kalanick's spokesperson said. "Travis will continue to act in the interests of Uber and all of its stakeholders and is confident that these entirely baseless claims will be rejected."

Read: Uber Executive Denies Travis Kalanick Will Rejoin Company

Despite Kalanick's resignation as CEO, the move is the latest scandal to revolve around him and the ride-hailing service. Uber has been in a search for a replacement CEO for Kalanick, but earlier this month, Kalanick was tied to the search process publicly, reportedly telling friends that he was just "Steve Jobs-ing it" in advance of his potential return to the company.

The filing from Benchmark indirectly supports these rumors, alleging that Kalanick wanted to pack the board with supporters in order to "clear the path" to his return to Uber. The rumors over Kalanick's possible return led co-founder Garrett Camp to openly deny them in an email to employees.

Check out the full suit below:

67730336 de Verified Complaint FINAL by ahawkins8223 on Scribd