Uber senior vice president Emil Michael has left the company, employees have been told, ahead of the release of the report into sexual harassment claims at the controversial taxi company.
His departure is likely to be one of the report’s key recommendations, all of which were unanimously adopted by the Uber board. The report on the company’s culture and practices, conducted by former US Attorney-General Eric Holder, was conducted in the wake of serious sexual harassment claims by former employees and is set to be released in full on Tuesday.
Michael, a close ally of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, will step down effective immediately. His departure is the latest in a spate of high-profile departures from employees, after the controversial taxi app became embroiled in a series of high-profile scandals.
Just last week Uber fired 20 employees after 215 harassment complaints were reviewed by another law firm in a separate investigation. It is rumoured that Kalanick himself is likely to take a short break of absence from the business, with the 40-year-old recently admitting he needed to “fundamentally change and grow up”.
The workplace culture at Uber came under scrutiny after Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, published a blog post titled, “Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber” detailing her experiences of sexual harassment towards female employees.