6 ms·

Good outcome would be: * Determine what happened, and disclose. * Offer compensation to Ms. Fowler, if warranted, and a public apology. * Concrete changes in

Good outcome would be: * Determine what happened, and disclose. * Offer compensation to Ms. Fowler, if warranted, and a public apology. * Concrete changes in policy that would prevent this happening in the future. Longer term, events like these should happen less at Uber.

grandalf 10y ago
Excellent points. The whole thing wreaks of grossly incompetent HR staff, as well as a management team that was unaware of the very real legal risks that allowing this sort of culture creates. The guy who did it may be eccentric and totally harmless to everyone who knows him, but none of that matters if there is evidence that a persistent harassment problem was not dealt with. No matter what the circumstances, it's risky for a company to keep someone employed who has not completely rectified any problematic harassment behavior after receiving a single warning.
fragmede 10y ago
Uber undoubtedly previously had a code of conduct that states this behavior is unacceptable but oh, look; here we are. Changing a couple words in the policy doc? Not good enough. If Uber actually wants to change, then heads need to roll. By which I mean fire a bunch of people and take away their options. A manager or three for inappropriate behavior; a bunch of people in HR, either for hushing up the problems in the first place ("Oh, this is the first time we're hearing about this." lol, really?) or for being incompetent at their job (specifically, opening them up to a huge lawsuit). Whether Uber is willing to go that far is entirely up to them, just like it's up to me to determine if I'd even bother reinstalling the app.
- mdip 10y ago
  I'll second that HR comment. Honestly, I'd be considering expunging the entire team at this point. Assuming the allegations are correct, they violated the law directly in some cases and where they didn't, they ensured that ethical lapses went unpunished, reporters of ethical lapses were punished/threatened and that this was basically effective policy of the organization. Staff within the company will never be comfortable with reporting incidents to that team unless all of management, anyone directly involved in these allegations and (probably) most of the HR staff is replaced. Hiring a good, well known, HR manager to rebuild the organization would be the next, good, step. Policies and codes of conduct are like laws. If they're unenforced, they don't exist.
- obstinate 10y ago
  Oh, yeah. I would have said that was a given. The "policy" change would be a change in the strenuousness of enforcement of a no doubt preexisting policy.
- arjie 10y ago
  Is it legal to take away their options? Sounds like a bad precedent to set.
  - runamok 10y ago
    Getting fired for cause usually means you lose them.
adw 10y ago
Ms. Fowler and all others similarly situated, I would suggest.
- obstinate 10y ago
  Yes, sorry, I didn't mean my list to be exhaustive. Just the first few things that popped into mind. As you say, the investigation should start with the exemplar, like all bug investigations. But the general case should be addressed too, possibly in parallel.

grandalf 10y ago

Excellent points. The whole thing wreaks of grossly incompetent HR staff, as well as a management team that was unaware of the very real legal risks that allowing this sort of culture creates. The guy who did it may be eccentric and totally harmless to everyone who knows him, but none of that matters if there is evidence that a persistent harassment problem was not dealt with. No matter what the circumstances, it's risky for a company to keep someone employed who has not completely rectified any problematic harassment behavior after receiving a single warning.

fragmede 10y ago

Uber undoubtedly previously had a code of conduct that states this behavior is unacceptable but oh, look; here we are. Changing a couple words in the policy doc? Not good enough. If Uber actually wants to change, then heads need to roll. By which I mean fire a bunch of people and take away their options. A manager or three for inappropriate behavior; a bunch of people in HR, either for hushing up the problems in the first place ("Oh, this is the first time we're hearing about this." lol, really?) or for being incompetent at their job (specifically, opening them up to a huge lawsuit). Whether Uber is willing to go that far is entirely up to them, just like it's up to me to determine if I'd even bother reinstalling the app.

mdip 10y ago
I'll second that HR comment. Honestly, I'd be considering expunging the entire team at this point. Assuming the allegations are correct, they violated the law directly in some cases and where they didn't, they ensured that ethical lapses went unpunished, reporters of ethical lapses were punished/threatened and that this was basically effective policy of the organization. Staff within the company will never be comfortable with reporting incidents to that team unless all of management, anyone directly involved in these allegations and (probably) most of the HR staff is replaced. Hiring a good, well known, HR manager to rebuild the organization would be the next, good, step. Policies and codes of conduct are like laws. If they're unenforced, they don't exist.
obstinate 10y ago
Oh, yeah. I would have said that was a given. The "policy" change would be a change in the strenuousness of enforcement of a no doubt preexisting policy.
arjie 10y ago
Is it legal to take away their options? Sounds like a bad precedent to set.
- runamok 10y ago
  Getting fired for cause usually means you lose them.

adw 10y ago

Ms. Fowler and all others similarly situated, I would suggest.

obstinate 10y ago
Yes, sorry, I didn't mean my list to be exhaustive. Just the first few things that popped into mind. As you say, the investigation should start with the exemplar, like all bug investigations. But the general case should be addressed too, possibly in parallel.