More than 20 employees have been fired from Uber as part of an ongoing sexual harassment investigation, according to Bloomberg.
In an explosive blog post earlier this year, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler alleged the company failed to act on sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaints. CEO Travis Kalanick called for an urgent investigation into the claims, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
That investigation, with Holder at the helm, has given its own recommendations to Uber’s board, according to Bloomberg.
But Uber’s 12,000 employees have been given an assessment of a separate investigation, led by an attorney in at Perkins Coie LLP, according to Bloomberg, who cite an anonymous source. Perkins Coie examined 215 claims, Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg’s Eric Newcomer was the first to report the news on Twitter. Uber executives did not name the individuals who were terminated, according to The New York Times.
According to the Times, the firings were revealed at an all-hands meeting in San Francisco, which BuzzFeed News said was 1 hour long. HR boss Liane Hornsey delivered the news, as Kalanick was with family in the wake of a tragic accident, according to BuzzFeed.
Uber and Perkins Coie LLP, a law firm involved with Uber’s internal investigation, were not immediately available for comment.
Fowler tweeted immediately after the release of the news, citing Uber insiders like Arianna Huffington and Hornsey who had said the company did not have systemic problems with sexism.
Sexual harassment has not been the only complaint about Uber’s leadership. The company has also been criticized for its political ties in recent months, as well as run-ins with drivers and conflicts with regulators.
Kalanick has reportedly made a series of high-profile hires, and may still be looking for a chief operating officer, amid the fallout.