Uber's board of directors met on Sunday, June 11, to talk about many things, including a leave absence for the company's CEO, Travis Kalanick, according to reports.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick To Take Some Time Off?
Should he take time off from the company, Kalanick might return in a role with less authority, a source said. Possibilities include Kalanick assuming a role other than CEO or maintaining the CEO position with narrower responsibilities.
Sources familiar with the situation stated that Uber also addressed several recommendations during the meeting — including the dismissal of some top managers. Those recommendations came from a company-wide investigation by former attorney general Eric Holder, who probed the company's purportedly toxic culture for months. In the case of Kalanick's reported leave of absence, Uber's board might arrive at a decision depending on the findings of that report.
Recode first broke news of the meeting on Saturday, June 10, calling Holder's report "ugly" and stating that the meeting will result in possible management changes. Moreover, sources who have seen parts of the report said it described Uber as having a "hostile work environment." Worse, it also said Uber doesn't have systems set in place to deal with violation should they occur.
Uber Senior VP Asked To Leave
The New York Times now reports that one of the recommendations culled from Holder's report calls Emil Michael, the company's senior VP of business, to leave Uber. The report notes that Michael appears to be a close confidant of Kalanick.
Presently, Michael hasn't resigned nor has he been asked to, a source familiar with the situation said. Michael, however, appears to be evaluating other options for the future, according to the report.
Uber's Many Challenges
Several allegations, such as sexual harassment claims, have burdened Uber in the last few months — with the allegations coming from both current and former employees. Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, detailed such claims in a lengthy and scathing blog post, illustrating a harrowing portrait of Uber's workplace culture, in which instances of sexual harassment go largely ignored, downplayed, and mishandled.
In the midst of Uber's series of controversies, the company asked Eric Holder to conduct an independent investigation earlier this year. Holder delivered the result of that probe last week to a special subcommittee, which includes Arianna Huffington, Bill Gurley, and David Bonderman. The report has also made it to the hands of Uber's entire board, including Kalanick himself.
All board members agree that changes must be made, significant ones at that. The question is, however: What exactly should those changes be?
Certainly, Kalanick's reported leave of absence could be one of those changes, especially if he returns, indeed, in a role with less authority. At present, however, it's uncertain if the board will introduce a decision to change his role.
All told, the company appears to be exerting mountainous efforts to try and repair its workplace culture and brand. The company recently hired two top female executives to do the heavy jobs: Frances Frei, who'll assume Uber's senior VP for leadership and strategy position, and Bozoma Saint John, who'll assume Uber's first chief brand officer. The setup clearly makes it seem Frei will handle Uber's internal culture, while Saint John will fix what Uber looks like from the outside.
In fact, it appears Uber is beginning to clean itself up. Just recently, the company sacked 20 people following a parallel independent investigation by law firm Perkins Coie, which looked into sexual harassment claims inside the company.
But no one can ascertain if Uber's series of cleanups will work. Some think the company might need deep and extensive restructuring entirely.
"To me, they don't just need a culture change," said Micah Alpern, principal at management and consulting firm A. T. Kearney. "They need to start from scratch to create a new culture entirely."
