A day after Recode reported that a top Uber executive, who obtained medical records of a woman who had been raped during a ride in India, has been fired, it uncovered an email of company CEO Travis Kalanick that he had sent out to his staff, offering rules in case they decided to have sex at a company outing in Miami in 2013.
The email, titled: “URGENT, URGENT - READ THIS NOW OR ELSE!!!!!,” was sent out ahead of an event which came after the ride-hailing company rolled out its 50th global city, reported Recode.
“Have a great fucking time. This is a celebration! We’ve all earned it,” Kalanick advised in his "dos" list.
Advertisement
“Do not have sex with another employee UNLESS a) you have asked that person for that privilege and they have responded with an emphatic ‘YES! I will have sex with you’ AND b) the two (or more) of you do not work in the same chain of command. Yes, that means that Travis will be celibate on this trip. #CEOLife #FML,” he wrote in the "don’ts" list.
Interestingly, according to the report, he sent out the same advice again the next year when there were 1,800 employees at Uber.
“Do not throw large kegs off of tall buildings,” he also wrote, threatening a $200 “puke charge” for anyone who throws up.
Advertisement
According to Recode, two law firms — Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling — working on investigations about corporate misbehavior at Uber have obtained the email and are looking at whether that helped created the party atmosphere that led to the sexism and sexual harassment, as well as general corporate mismanagement.
Earlier this year, a female former engineer at Uber said in a widely read blog post that managers and human resources officers at the company had not punished her manager after she reported his unwanted sexual advances, and even threatened her with a poor performance review.
Uber on Tuesday fired Eric Alexander, the president of business in the Asia Pacific, who had obtained medical records of a 26-year-old woman raped by an Uber driver in India in 2014. Alexander was fired just as the company announced that it had fired 20 employees over the last few months for harassment, discrimination and inappropriate behaviour.
