Uber Faces Federal Investigation Over Alleged Gender Discrimination (bbc.com)

According to The Wall Street Journal, Uber is being investigated by U.S. authorities over a complaint about gender discrimination (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is leading the investigation, which began last August but hasn't been previously reported. From the report: EEOC investigators have been interviewing former and current Uber employees as well as seeking documents from Uber officials, these people said. The investigators have been seeking information related to hiring practices, pay disparity and other matters as they relate to gender, one person said. Uber, which hopes to debut on the public markets sometime in the second half of next year, is already is facing at least five other federal investigations by multiple agencies into its pricing practices, accusations of bribery by Uber executives abroad, and its use of software designed to evade local officials tracking its operations, among other matters.

The EEOC, tasked with enforcing federal laws against discrimination, generally responds to confidential complaints filed by workers against employers, and can file suit or seek private arbitration. Of roughly 90,000 complaints filed annually, a fraction result in a settlement or EEOC-led lawsuit. It is unclear whether the EEOC intends to take any action against Uber, which would be one of the agency's most prominent recent cases.

Comments

Re:I wish we had freedom of association

[Dread_ed]

There are, count em, 5 government investigations into Uber currently. Pretty hard to wrack up that many concurrent investigations no matter what company you work for. Why would there be that many investigations going on? That has to put a severe strain on their company's legal budget and severely cramps the management team's time.

Pardon me for being suspicious of shit like this. It's almost like the entrenched business interests and our government work together to squash innovative new companies that could compete and ultimately might topple the status quo.

I think of it as the same kind of behavior Tesla experienced when they were trying to roll out manufacturer owned dealerships throughout the USA. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) lobbied the fuck out of many state's legislatures to make damn sure the wedge of franchise law was driven deeply between Tesla and their paying customers. Paying customers....sorry. You know, us...the public. Yeah, that's entrenched business interests using their position and power, through the law and state legislatures, to shit on the free market. Free market....sorry. You know, our freedom...our ability to use innovation, the public domain, and balls to contribute to creating progress.

I still can't buy one in Texas from a dealership. It's against the fucking law.

Don't get me started on Disney and their concerted efforts to bribe away every American's right to innovate with things that were created during their lifetime. Copyright law is already extended so far it fucking creates powerful entities with the ability to influence or outright control the laws about itself. "If you want access to your culture, you will need to pay first. Thank you, now I can buy enough congresspeople to make sure every generation from now until eternity will have to pay to watch Alladin." And we want that kind of monster recursively writing copyright law about itself?

Not that I expect any of you to do anything about this. We just want to watch a show. It's fighting for its survival.

God, where was I before I totally lost it? Oh yeah. Watch those entrenched interests. They won't let anything come between them and the parts of you they already own. Especially you.