Uber Scandals: Company To Hire Chief Operating Officer After Recent Controversies

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will seek out a chief operating officer to work alongside him at the ride-sharing service, according to Recode.

In a statement on Uber’s corporate blog, Kalanick confirmed the company is actively searching for an additional executive staffer.

“This morning I told the Uber team that we’re actively looking for a Chief Operating Officer: a peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journey.” Kalanick said.

Read: #DeleteUber: 200,000 Removed Uber From Their Phones After Social Media Campaign

The news comes as Uber works to steady itself after weeks of scandals and controversies. As Recode notes, Kalanick has traditionally preferred to work independently to lead the company, but multiple competitors are working to take advantage of Uber’s recent stumbles.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Lyft is seeking an additional $500 million round of new funding for a valuation of around $6 billion to $7 billion. The ride-sharing service is also making a heavy push for growth as it aims to expand Lyft coverage to more than 100 cities this year and potentially launch self-driving cars by 2018. While it’s not directly targeting Uber’s core audience, Google’s Waze Carpool service — which targets commuters and other riders on regular scheduled trips — also plans to expand its coverage throughout the U.S. and Latin America.

Read: What Is Greyball? Uber Used Data Collection Tools To Avoid Authorities And Operate Illegally

Uber’s Scandals In 2017

• After being accused of attempting to break a taxi driver strike at JFK International Airport over President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, users launched the #DeleteUber hashtag and urged other members to remove the app. Backlash over Uber’s response to the campaign resulted in Kalanick stepping down from President Trump’s business advisory council.

• Uber had to pay $20 million to the Federal Trade Commission in January to settle claims that it misled drivers on potential earnings and costs of becoming drivers for the service.

• Former Uber staffer Susan Fowler wrote about her experiences after a year at the company, which were categorized by regular sexual harassment issues and systemic misogyny. In response, Kalanick called for an investigation into Fowler’s allegations. The news also led to an executive resigning over a failure to disclose that he left Google over prior sexual harassment allegations.

• A New York Times report documented Uber’s hostile office culture, which included an incident where a manager “threatened to beat an underperforming employee’s head in with a baseball bat.”

• Bloomberg reported on a video of Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver in February. In a staff email, Kalanick apologized and said that he needed to “grow up.”

• Uber confirmed in March that it had used an internal program named Greyball to avoid being caught in cities that it was operating illegally in. The program would identify city officials who were attempting to catch Uber drivers and prevent them from using the service.