Uber agrees to $4.4m settlement over sexual harassment charges

Uber has agreed to pay a $4.4m fine to settle a 2017 charge from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over sex discrimination and retaliation, it emerged this week.

In a press release issued late on Tuesday, the EEOC said the investigation found reasonable cause to believe that the “permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment.”

At the time, then-CEO Travis Kalanick said that what Fowler described was “abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in.”

The company will have to pay compensation to any person who suffered harassment and or retaliation at the company after January 2014. It also agreed to establish a system to identify employees who have been subject of more than one complaint.

“This agreement holds Uber accountable, and, going forward, positions the company to innovate and transform the tech industry by modelling effective measures against sexual harassment and retaliation,” EEOC Commissioner Victoria Lipnic said in a statement.

Uber will also face monitoring by former EEOC Commissioner Fred Alvarez.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that all employees can thrive at Uber by putting fairness and accountability at the heart of who we are and what we do,” Uber chief legal officer Tony West said.

“I am extremely pleased that we were able to work jointly with the EEOC in continuing to strengthen these efforts.”