WEBVTT - Uber Faces Accusations of Sexual Harassment (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Michael Best with Jean Grasso. Susan Fowler is an engineer

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<v Speaker 1>who worked at Uber. On Sunday, Fowler, who recently left

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<v Speaker 1>the company, posted on her blog an account of sexual

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<v Speaker 1>harassment against her, alleging that her boss at Uber tried

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<v Speaker 1>to have sex with her and that when she reported it,

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<v Speaker 1>the company told her it would not be doing anything

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<v Speaker 1>about it. Uber CEO Travis Klanic issued a statement calling

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<v Speaker 1>the allegations abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and

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<v Speaker 1>believes in, and the company has now hired former Attorney

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<v Speaker 1>General Eric Holder to lead an independent review of the

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<v Speaker 1>allegations UH and also about diversity and inclusion issues at Uber.

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<v Speaker 1>More broadly, Fowler's accusations are the latest in a line

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<v Speaker 1>of claims by women that their sideline in Silicon Valley's

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<v Speaker 1>male dominated culture. Here to talk with us about this

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<v Speaker 1>situation is Michael sell Me, a professor at George Washington

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<v Speaker 1>University Law School. Michael um so Ms. Fowler writes this

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<v Speaker 1>blog post, what what is she detailing? Happened during the

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<v Speaker 1>course of her time at Uber. UH daily agencies detailing

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<v Speaker 1>or you know as you mentioned are similar to a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of UH allegations that have been coming up recently,

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<v Speaker 1>um in the listen since she's alleging imparting egregious sexual harassment.

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<v Speaker 1>But equally important, I think the for Uber where they

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<v Speaker 1>have really moved quite quickly on is the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>they told her specifically or supersized stores specifically, that they

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<v Speaker 1>would do nothing about it, So they were they were

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<v Speaker 1>not concerned about these allegations at all, Michael. There have

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<v Speaker 1>been surveys. There was one in by the Elephant in

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<v Speaker 1>the Valley that found that six of women in tech

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<v Speaker 1>have experienced unwanted sexual advances from colleagues. There have been

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<v Speaker 1>there's been a lot on social media, a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>different claims. What is there about tech or is there

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<v Speaker 1>something about tech that makes it more susceptible. There's probably

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of different things. Whether it makes it more

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<v Speaker 1>susceptible or not to an industry, that's hard to say.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think with respect to tech tech um UH,

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<v Speaker 1>it's clearly been a male dominated UH industry. It's also

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<v Speaker 1>filled with a lot of younger people UM. And it's

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<v Speaker 1>certainly when the companies began, or when so Colon Valley

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<v Speaker 1>was going, they were not as concerned about legal restraints

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<v Speaker 1>as a lot of other more mature industries would have been.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think there was a bravado among a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the people in the industry. Um uh that may

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<v Speaker 1>be not so prominent in other UH industries. UM and

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<v Speaker 1>then uh um the use UH possibly might be part

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<v Speaker 1>of it too. But I think it's you know, a

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<v Speaker 1>combination of things that has made the tech world so

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<v Speaker 1>susceptible to these allegations. Michael, what do you expect that

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<v Speaker 1>Attorney General Holder is going to end up doing in

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<v Speaker 1>this investigation? Well, that's always hard to know. Um. These

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<v Speaker 1>allegations were just reported. As as far as i'm there

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<v Speaker 1>has not been a formal complaint filed, and so he

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<v Speaker 1>would probably take the place of well would would do

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<v Speaker 1>what you know, the UC or another agency might do

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of the investigation, UM, with interviews and the like.

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<v Speaker 1>And I presume he will come up with a report

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<v Speaker 1>fairly quickly, would be my guest to that all this

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<v Speaker 1>will move, you know, quite quickly. It's it may seem

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<v Speaker 1>unusual that a lawsuit hasn't been filed yet, or that

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<v Speaker 1>she hasn't gone outside the agency rather posting on a blog.

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<v Speaker 1>What does that tell you it is unusual? Um? And

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that the blog was the way that she

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<v Speaker 1>chose to uh make these allegations public is highly unusual.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether it's um, you know, there was recently the Fox

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<v Speaker 1>News allegations that hit the news very quickly and settled

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<v Speaker 1>very quickly. And I think maybe what you're seeing as

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<v Speaker 1>a strategy that bringing public attention to these allegations UM

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<v Speaker 1>is the quick this way to a settlement. Well, Michael,

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<v Speaker 1>when you look at the kinds of allegations she's making here,

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<v Speaker 1>what what is it that Uber should have done. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>certainly they should have had a plan in place, which

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<v Speaker 1>they may have formally had when most businesses do for

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<v Speaker 1>their employees to report harassment and to report harassment uh

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<v Speaker 1>generally to the human resources officer as opposed to supervisors.

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<v Speaker 1>There should have been an investigation of those and internal

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<v Speaker 1>investigation of those allegations, UM. And then you know, consistent

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<v Speaker 1>with then investigation, there should have been some determination of

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<v Speaker 1>the merits on med and if they proved to be

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<v Speaker 1>true accurate, uh, then there certainly should have been some

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<v Speaker 1>discipline for the offending party. And it sounds like they

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<v Speaker 1>skipped all of those steps. Well, our thanks to Michael

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<v Speaker 1>sell Me, a professor at George Washington University Law School

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<v Speaker 1>for being here on Bloomberg Law. Coming up on Bloomberg Law,

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<v Speaker 1>will be talking about a decision by a federal magistrate

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<v Speaker 1>which refused to give the government a warrant that would

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<v Speaker 1>force people to compel to use their fingerprints to open

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<v Speaker 1>their cell phones, even though there was a warrant to

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<v Speaker 1>search a computer on the on the premises when the

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<v Speaker 1>police got there. The police also wanted to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to force anyone who had a cell phone, uh that

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<v Speaker 1>would require their fingerprint to use their fingerprints to open

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<v Speaker 1>it up, and a judge said that would violate their

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<v Speaker 1>constitutional rights and he was not going to issue it. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna be talking about that decision coming up straight

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<v Speaker 1>ahead on Bloomberg Glove