We’ve written about Uber in regards to driver wages in the past. Now Uber is back in the news after a former employee wrote a blog post about the gender discrimination and sexual harassment she allegedly encountered while working for the company.
The blog post has gained traction in the news and on social media, and created some unwanted publicity for the company.
A story in Buzzfeed offers an overview of the blog post, in which the former Uber employee describes unwanted sexual advances from a supervisor, gender discrimination and a human resources department that ignored complaints and defended the harasser. The woman also says in her blog post that a manager told her she could be fired if she continued filing reports with human resources.
The blog post highlights a number of ways that companies and supervisors can treat employees illegally in the workplace. The sexual harassment and discrimination has gotten much of the attention, and deservedly so, however, the allegations of a manager threatening to fire the employee and the general behavior of the HR department are equally alarming. Firing an employee in retaliation for reporting discrimination or harassment on the job is illegal.
It is important to note that these are allegations, but it still speaks to an important point. Employees often get sucked into company culture, and when nobody is listening to what they say, they can feel trapped with no way out. It is incumbent on employers to create a safe environment for employees.
