Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Could Temporarily Leave Company, Report Says

Uber’s board of directors will discuss changes in a Sunday meeting that could include potentially having CEO Travis Kalanick temporarily step down from the company, Reuters reports.

As part of the possible move, Kalanick could take a leave of absence from the company. Kalanick would either return in a role besides CEO or come back as CEO with fewer responsibilities and more oversight. However, Sunday’s meeting is also expected to address recommendations from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s investigation into Uber’s workplace culture, so it is unclear whether or not Kalanick’s possible temporary leave will be addressed.

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The meeting comes amid an increasing amount of turmoil and public missteps for the ride-sharing company. Last week, a leaked internal email from 2013 detailed Kalanick’s suggested sexguidelines for employees at a company celebration in Miami.

More significantly, former Uber executive Eric Alexander was found to have obtained the personal medical records of a customer who was raped by a driver in India in 2014, Recode previously reported. In part, the move was done because some executives at Uber were reportedly skeptical about the assault and believed it was orchestrated by Ola, a local competitor. Uber has also spent much of the year responding to other scandals including its secret ‘Greyball’ program for avoiding local regulators, a lawsuit from competitor Waymo and a class action lawsuit that alleges the company shortchanged drivers on ride payments.

Holder’s investigation was kickstarted by a blog post from former engineer Susan Fowler, who detailed extended instances of sexual harassment within the company and poor responses from management. Law firm Perkins Coie also conducted a separate investigation into the company focusing on similar concerns.

In the past few weeks, Uber has begun to respond to some of its major scandals. Uber recently confirmed that it had let 20 employees go in response to the Perkins Coie report and was also focusing on an additional 215 cases of reported sexual discrimination, harassment and other employee concerns.

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Longtime executive Emil Joseph may also resign from the company, the Wall Street Journal reports. Joseph, who is a close supporter of Kalanick’s and joined the company in 2013, previously caused controversy for Uber during a 2014 event where he suggested the company could spend "a million dollars" investigating journalists who’ve reported critically on the company.

Uber also brought on former Apple executive Bozoma Saint John to become the company’s new chief brand officer. Previously, Saint John worked as head of global consumer marketing for Apple.

Holder’s report is expected to have recommendations that include more oversight on areas including spending and revamped training processes for human resources staffers.