Some Uber employees are circulating a petition to get Travis Kalanick reinstated
Some Uber employees — including a few managers — are
circulating a petition that calls for the reinstatement of Travis
Kalanick, who was forced to resign as CEO earlier this week. The petition, which was first reported by Recode and BuzzFeed, speaks in glowing terms about Kalanick and calls for supportive employees to “revolt this!”
Also making the rounds is a letter to the company’s board
that includes the signatures of over 1,000 employees asking for the
return of Kalanick “to an operational role,” according to Axios.
Both the letter and the petition are a reflection of a growing
disgruntlement among some of Uber’s 15,000 employees about the manner in
which the company’s founder and chief executive was fired.
The email, which includes a link to a petition that
directs to an internal Uber website, calls on all those who disapprove
of “TK’s resignation,” using Kalanick’s nickname among employees. “TK,
no matter his flaws (everyone has them) was one of the best leaders I
have ever seen,” it reads. “He worked day and night in creating this
company to what it is today.”
“Uber is TK,” it adds, “and TK is Uber.”
The letter to Uber’s board has a more formal writing
style, but conveys the same message. “Yes, Travis is flawed, as we all
are,” it reads. “But his passion, vision, and dedication to Uber are
simply unmatched. We would not be here today without him, and believe he
can evolve into the leader we need. He is critical to our future
success.”
Kalanick was ousted late Tuesday after an extended barrage of scandals and controversy. According to The New York Times,
a coalition of Uber investors, led by two venture capitalists,
confronted Kalanick in a hotel room in Chicago with a letter demanding
his resignation. After hours of intense talks, Kalanick finally
acquiesced and agreed to step down.
But not all of Uber’s investors were on board with the
power move. Mood Rowghani, a partner in a venture capital firm invested
in Uber, told Axios in a statement that he agreed with those
clamoring for Kalanick to remain involved at Uber. “Founders may not
always play the role of CEO but several great companies—most notably
Apple and Twitter—that severed all ties to their founders eventually
came to regret it."
Unmentioned in any of these letters and statements is any reference to the avalanche of questionable behavior
that led Uber’s board to demand Kalanick’s resignation. One such
incident, the mishandling of the medical records of a woman who was
raped by an Uber driver in 2014, has prompted yet another internal
investigation at the ride-hail company.
Reuters reported
today that Uber retained a law firm to probe how one of its top
executives obtained the records. Meanwhile, the victim recently filed a lawsuit against Uber, Kalanick, and two other top executives — both of whom were also recently fired.
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