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There are two parts to this. First, we don't know how the conversations went between Uber and the vitcims, because both viticms seen to have the impressions Ube

There are two parts to this. First, we don't know how the conversations went between Uber and the vitcims, because both viticms seen to have the impressions Uber would report this to the police, which is odd given the viticms should report to the police first. But on the other hand, Uber should work with the viticms to ensure the viticms are reporting to the police. Imaginr you were sexually assaulted on the train, on campus, or at work, not only you should contact the police yourself, but the administration should engage in aid. A train station worker shouldn't just stand next to a vitcim and say well the alleged attacker denies it so we are lettig the attack go. If you were assaulted at work, you should find someone you can trust and go to either the HR and call the cops. Uber is not responsible for the attack, but as a company it has the responsibility to take every claim seriously, and ensure law enforcement is involved, because Uber's reputation and customer trust are at stake. Every company should have a crisis protocol. On the other hand, I can't think of better example than Uber's toxic company cultute. Harassments gone to blackhole with HR....

tomp 9y ago
> but as a company it has the responsibility to take every claim seriously, and ensure law enforcement is involved, I disagree. Customers expecting this results in the awkward situation we're in today. If instead we train people to rely on themselves (and the police), many of these situations could be avoided (or, at least, resolved in a better way).
- yeukhon 9y ago
  You missed my early point. Please read what I wrote. I advocate viticms to report first. But Uber has the responsibility to ensure these allegations are rightfully documented. If someone punched you in the face at Starbuck, what is the first thing the worker say to you? "Are you okay?" What else will the worker say? "What happened? Do you want me to call 911?" Usually stores have policy to notify manager so the manager can decide what to do. If Uber treat this kind of allegations as a normal support ticket, and nothing is done, well, fml. It better now come up with a better protocol so the support team has a manaul book to follow.
  - tomp 9y ago
    eyko's post above suggests that they went above and beyond what you're suggesting (including reporting the incident to TfL and "firing" the driver). (Unless Uber are lying, of course, which is unlikely IMO, but less unlikely than for most other companies.) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15330392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15330392
    - DanBC 9y ago
      Reporting to TfL isn't even the minimum requirement, so I'm not sure how you get from "don't do enough" to going "above and beyond".
- dx034 9y ago
  The problem is that the victim only has the data from the app. Only Uber has the actual identity of the driver. If Uber is unwilling to cooperate with the police, getting the identity will at least require a court order. If Uber behaved correctly, they would've reported the case to the police with the identity of the driver. This process is much faster and allows for a quicker police investigation.
  - true_religion 9y ago
    They are willing to cooperate with the police. They just don't file the complaints themselves. I would say this is reasonable since it is the policy at all companies I have worked with as well. Any charge of employees doing criminal acts are reported by those who see them. If no one else at the company sees it, then it is left up to the alleged victim. They company does not want to be seen as attacking it's employees based in hearsay. In Ubers case these aren't even employees so they are left carrying hearsays to the police against third parties.
    - anon1385 9y ago
      >They are willing to cooperate with the police Except when they aren't: https://fymhotsauce.rocks/blogs/news/my-uber-driver-robbed-me-so-i-took-uber-to-court-and-won https://fymhotsauce.rocks/blogs/news/my-uber-driver-robbed-m...
    - DanBC 9y ago
      > They are willing to cooperate with the police. From the article: > It is expected, however, that serious crimes will be dealt with promptly, and reported directly to the police as well. And > At this point, the police attempted to investigate (pepper spray is an offensive weapon in the UK) but, the letter indicated, Uber refused to provide more information unless a formal request via the Data Protection Act was submitted. But they report every crime if they're the victim: > Uber are however proactive in reporting lower level document frauds to both the MPS and LTPH.
      - eyko 9y ago
- debaserab2 9y ago
  ..so companies shouldn't do anything when their employees are accused of committing a sex crime on the job?
- _jal 9y ago
  And if you start your campaign, perhaps in time you can shift the norms to be what you think they should be. Today, however, the London PtB have expectations that are not being met in this arena and the power to say 'no'. And yet Uber insists on being the definition of a snowflake - somehow their competitors are perfectly capable of interacting with the police and regulators. Uber is clearly competent to report criminal assaults. They report other things. And ignoring their apparent PR desires, it looks not just stupid and a caricature of bro-havior, but also absurd - why make not reporting sexual assault the hill you want to die on? If I were an investor... Oh wait, there are already lawsuits flying (indirectly) over this behavior. Uber has a choice. Keep acting like multinational frat house, and likely be pecked to death by more actions like this, or accept that others have no obligation to hold them in the same extreme esteem they apparently hold themselves, and act like they want to run a business in the real world, in which laws exist. Or, hey, go Galt already. Please.

tomp 9y ago

> but as a company it has the responsibility to take every claim seriously, and ensure law enforcement is involved, I disagree. Customers expecting this results in the awkward situation we're in today. If instead we train people to rely on themselves (and the police), many of these situations could be avoided (or, at least, resolved in a better way).

yeukhon 9y ago
You missed my early point. Please read what I wrote. I advocate viticms to report first. But Uber has the responsibility to ensure these allegations are rightfully documented. If someone punched you in the face at Starbuck, what is the first thing the worker say to you? "Are you okay?" What else will the worker say? "What happened? Do you want me to call 911?" Usually stores have policy to notify manager so the manager can decide what to do. If Uber treat this kind of allegations as a normal support ticket, and nothing is done, well, fml. It better now come up with a better protocol so the support team has a manaul book to follow.
- tomp 9y ago
  eyko's post above suggests that they went above and beyond what you're suggesting (including reporting the incident to TfL and "firing" the driver). (Unless Uber are lying, of course, which is unlikely IMO, but less unlikely than for most other companies.) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15330392 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15330392
  - DanBC 9y ago
    Reporting to TfL isn't even the minimum requirement, so I'm not sure how you get from "don't do enough" to going "above and beyond".
dx034 9y ago
The problem is that the victim only has the data from the app. Only Uber has the actual identity of the driver. If Uber is unwilling to cooperate with the police, getting the identity will at least require a court order. If Uber behaved correctly, they would've reported the case to the police with the identity of the driver. This process is much faster and allows for a quicker police investigation.
- true_religion 9y ago
  They are willing to cooperate with the police. They just don't file the complaints themselves. I would say this is reasonable since it is the policy at all companies I have worked with as well. Any charge of employees doing criminal acts are reported by those who see them. If no one else at the company sees it, then it is left up to the alleged victim. They company does not want to be seen as attacking it's employees based in hearsay. In Ubers case these aren't even employees so they are left carrying hearsays to the police against third parties.
  - anon1385 9y ago
    >They are willing to cooperate with the police Except when they aren't: https://fymhotsauce.rocks/blogs/news/my-uber-driver-robbed-me-so-i-took-uber-to-court-and-won https://fymhotsauce.rocks/blogs/news/my-uber-driver-robbed-m...
  - DanBC 9y ago
    > They are willing to cooperate with the police. From the article: > It is expected, however, that serious crimes will be dealt with promptly, and reported directly to the police as well. And > At this point, the police attempted to investigate (pepper spray is an offensive weapon in the UK) but, the letter indicated, Uber refused to provide more information unless a formal request via the Data Protection Act was submitted. But they report every crime if they're the victim: > Uber are however proactive in reporting lower level document frauds to both the MPS and LTPH.
    - eyko 9y ago
debaserab2 9y ago
..so companies shouldn't do anything when their employees are accused of committing a sex crime on the job?
_jal 9y ago
And if you start your campaign, perhaps in time you can shift the norms to be what you think they should be. Today, however, the London PtB have expectations that are not being met in this arena and the power to say 'no'. And yet Uber insists on being the definition of a snowflake - somehow their competitors are perfectly capable of interacting with the police and regulators. Uber is clearly competent to report criminal assaults. They report other things. And ignoring their apparent PR desires, it looks not just stupid and a caricature of bro-havior, but also absurd - why make not reporting sexual assault the hill you want to die on? If I were an investor... Oh wait, there are already lawsuits flying (indirectly) over this behavior. Uber has a choice. Keep acting like multinational frat house, and likely be pecked to death by more actions like this, or accept that others have no obligation to hold them in the same extreme esteem they apparently hold themselves, and act like they want to run a business in the real world, in which laws exist. Or, hey, go Galt already. Please.