Uber board to adopt recommendations of Eric Holder investigation

Uber’s board of directors voted unanimously to adopt all recommendations of a report that was conducted after allegations of sexual harassment and other issues at the company came to light, according to a representative for the board.

In the meeting on Sunday, the board adopted recommendations from the “Holder Report,” conducted by former Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarrán after a months-long investigation on the company’s internal practices. The independent investigation was galvanized by former Uber employee Susan Fowler who wrote a blog post detailing allegedly ignored and mishandled issues of sexual harassment at the ride-hailing company.

The recommendations will be released to employees Tuesday, according to the board representative.

{mosads}The board also reportedly discussed suspending CEO Travis Kalanick on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal, but has not made a public decision. Uber did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

One of Holder’s recommendations was firing Emil Michael, Kalanick’s chief deputy at the company. A source familiar with move confirmed to The Hill on Monday that Michael is no longer with Uber.

“Beginning with my first day at Uber, I have been committed to building a diverse Business Team that would be widely recognized as the best in the technology world: one that is welcoming to people of all genders, sexual orientations, national origins and educational backgrounds,” Michael said in a farewell email to his colleagues that was obtained by The New York Times. “I am proud that our group has made so much progress toward these goals and is a leader in the company in many of these categories.”

Fowler’s post in February has contributed to the scrutiny of Uber’s culture, particularly in regard to its treatment of women. Kalanick has also contributed to the company’s negative publicity in recent months after Bloomberg published a video showing him berating a driver and a Recode report detailing a “cavalier” memo he sent employees in 2013, among other missteps that have happened or come to light this year.

Uber is also embroiled in a legal battle with Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary, Waymo, who alleges that Uber stole important documents on self-driving car technology and faces a criminal probe for “Greyball” technology it used to mislead regulators in cities it operated in.

The turmoil has prompted a significant number of executives to leave the company in recent months.

–Harper Neidig contributed to this report, which was updated at 1:00 p.m.