# A top Uber executive, who obtained the medical records of a customer who was a rape victim, is fired



## BurgerTiime (Jun 22, 2015)

https://www.recode.net/2017/6/7/15754316/uber-executive-india-assault-rape-medical-records
Wasn't canned until contacted by Recode?!?
Just wow--

A top Uber executive obtained medical records of a woman who had been raped during a ride in India, according to multiple sources.

He is no longer with the company, an Uber spokesperson said.

The executive in question, Eric Alexander, the president of business in the Asia Pacific, then showed the medical records to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and SVP Emil Michael. In addition, numerous executives at the car-hailing company were either told about the records or shown them by this group.

Alexander's handling of the delicate situation was among 215 claims reported to two law firms - Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling - doing deep investigations into both specific and widespread mismanagement issues at the company, including around allegations of pervasive sexism and sexual harassment at Uber.

As part of the Coie investigation, 20 employees were fired for a range of infractions, from sexual harassment to unprofessional behavior to retaliation. About 100 others are either still being investigated or saw some type of action - such as warnings or mandatory employee trainings.

Alexander had not been among those fired, Uber said yesterday when asked about his status. Now, after Recodecontacted the company about his actions, he is no longer employed there. Uber declined to comment further.

By way of background, in 2014, a 26-year-old woman in New Delhi, India was raped and assaulted by her Uber driver at the end of a Saturday night in December. The driver - who was already awaiting trial for at least four other criminal charges - was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.

It was a decision Uber India president Amit Jain applauded at the time. "Sexual assault is a terrible crime and we're pleased he has now been brought to justice," he said in a statement. "Safety is a priority for Uber and we've made many improvements - in terms of new technology, enhanced background checks and better 24/7 customer support - as a result of the lessons we learned from this awful case."

But Uber came under Indian government scrutiny after the incident. Police in New Delhi considered whether to criminally charge the ride-hail company over its lax background checks and questioned the city's general manager, Gagan Bhatia. Ultimately, Uber was banned from operating in Delhi shortly after the incident, a stricture which wasn't lifted until June of 2015.

While the company was publicly apologetic, some top executives apparently had trouble believing that the incident was entirely true, sources said, including Alexander. He went to India to investigate - but it is not clear if he did this of his own volition or was directed to do so. It is also not clear if he obtained these files legally.

Alexander then brought the files to Kalanick and Michael, who read them, said sources. This is highly unusual since they were records related to a criminal investigation.

Still, soon after, all three began to raise the prospect that Ola - Uber's prime competitor in India - was behind the incident to sabotage the company, sources said.

Some Uber staffers who were told about the medical report by them were disturbed to hear the executives were considering the scenario, based on their reading of the medical report, that the woman's story was not true.

"Travis never should have looked at the report and he should have fired him immediately," said one executive of Alexander.

Neither Kalanick, Michael nor Alexander has medical training, even though they questioned the incident based on the medical report, the sources said.

Worse: Alexander carried around the document for about a year before other executives - presumably the legal department - obtained the report and destroyed his copy, according to the sources. It's not clear if Uber continues to have a copy.

At the time, Kalanick's public response to the rape seemed to shift some of the blame over the lack of sufficient background checks, which would have caught the drivers' several infractions, onto the government.

What happened over the weekend in New Delhi is horrific. Our entire team's hearts go out to the victim of this despicable crime. We will do everything, I repeat, everything to help bring this perpetrator to justice and to support the victim and her family in her recovery.

We will work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs. We will also partner closely with the groups who are leading the way on women's safety here in New Delhi and around the country and invest in technology advances to help make New Delhi a safer city for women.

Still, many believed that the rape was a watershed moment for the ride-hailing company. Uber quickly rolled out new safety features in India and elsewhere in the aftermath of the incident.

However, Uber's decision to move the lion's share of their customer support team - the company's last line of defense against these types of incidents - to contract companies in places like Manila where there were high quotas and language barriers at times caused serious complaints and reports to fall through the cracks, as reported back in February 2016. In April of 2016, the company also agreed to pay up to $25 million to settle a lawsuit in California over the "false sense of security" the language around its background checks gave riders.

-Time Travis steps down-doneski


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

A very senior Uber exec made a trip to India and somehow obtained the medical records of the victim of a highly-publicized driver rape in Delhi. He then brought the records to SFO and showed them to Travis and other execs. He kept the records, showing them to other Uber employees, for more than a year before they were taken away from him. No disciplinary action was taken against him, and he is NOT one of the 20 fired employees mentioned in other stories.

Only when the media contacted Uber to ask if he was still around, in light of this information, was he fired.

Here's the link: https://www.recode.net/2017/6/7/15754316/uber-executive-india-assault-rape-medical-records

I am not one to complain much about Travis Kalanick. To me, most of his faults are more humorous and annoying than important.

But this is too much. This is a fatal error that disqualifies him from running any company. No number or duration of teary "all-employees meetings" can fix this.

There are no words to describe how slimy this behavior is.

If the Board of Directors of Uber does not fire him for a) going through a rape victim's medical files, and b) doing nothing for more than a year, and c) for only taking action under media pressure -- the Board is as sleazy as he is.


----------



## itsablackmarket (May 12, 2015)

Of course. They're all sleazy. Are you just now realizing this?


----------



## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

I'd honestly be suprised if they didn't do evil shit as the first option. Just another Tuesday @ Uber hq.


----------



## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

itsablackmarket said:


> Of course. They're all sleazy. Are you just now realizing this?


When billion$ are at stake, some human collateral is a given circumstance, maybe it's a couple thousand rapes, drivers physically assualted daily, weekly murders, etc etc. Innovation must progress.


----------



## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

evil shit is often the fastest and easiest route. Life is much easier when you're a sociopath and don't have to play by the rules that empathy imposes on you like the rest of us.


----------



## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

BurgerTiime said:


> https://www.recode.net/2017/6/7/15754316/uber-executive-india-assault-rape-medical-records
> Wasn't canned until contacted by Recode?!?
> Just wow--
> 
> ...


C.E.O.' s pay for and look at records ALL the time !
This case affected the company.
Usually it is lawyers and Private Investigators handling the files.


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

tohunt4me said:


> C.E.O.' s pay for and look at records ALL the time !
> This case affected the company.
> Usually it is lawyers and Private Investigators handling the files.


This is not a legitimate litigation support investigation. There is not one single aspect of this that is legal and legitimate.

When they are sued, companies hire law firms who hire investigators, who do investigations. On very rare occasions a CEO will see an _Executive Summary_ of an extremely critical investigation.

No ethical lawyer would ever obtain medical reports on someone unless that person was suing the company for some illness or injury and the records had been obtained through the legal discovery process. They could be *disbarred* for participating in something like this.

This is a situation where a top executive, in charge of a huge area of the world (including the two most populous countries on the planet), personally went to India and obtained the records. Not an investigator -- the President for the Asia Pacific for Uber. And then he brought the records back to the US and went through them with the two top execs of the entire worldwide company -- the CEO and the Executive VP. _Medical records_ in a *rape *case.

One can only imagine the bro-convo in that room!

If they had done that to an American citizen, they would be in violation of HIPPA, and possibly be looking at jail. I don't know what India's laws are -- but if they have ANY kind of protection of personal medical records, this is surely a violation.

This is not business as usual at Uber. This is much worse.


----------



## Hannibalb (Jan 19, 2016)

JimKE said:


> This is not business as usual at Uber. This is much worse.


I don't think you get it yet. This is business as usual at Uber. Do you really think you've heard about most of these incidents? Probably 1-2% of these types of abuses have come out to date. It's the tip of the iceberg. What do you think would be the result of having a ceo with sociopathic traits and emotional IQ of a 14 year old run a company.


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

Hannibalb said:


> I don't think you get it yet. This is business as usual at Uber. Do you really think you've heard about most of these incidents? Probably 1-2% of these types of abuses have come out to date. It's the tip of the iceberg. What do you think would be the result of having a ceo with sociopathic traits and emotional IQ of a 14 year old run a company.


I get it. You would have no way of knowing, but I have an extensive background both as a police rape investigator and in my retirement doing litigation support work. I know what is the norm, and what is not.

I'm just saying that this kind of abuse is even worse than any of the other workplace silliness we've heard of, because their obvious intent was to attack a legitimate rape victim. If the victim were an American, this would be a criminal violation as well as a violation of our medical privacy laws (HIPPA).


----------



## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

As a law school dropout...

There are 4 people entitled to the poor woman's medical records.

1. the woman,
2. the detective (or local equivilant, inspector ect) preferably a female officer for the purposes of investigating the rape.
3. the womn's doctor
4. the woman's mom


THAT'S IT!

PERIOD!
End of Story!

Possibly the woman's husband/significant other but that's her choice.


the CEO of uber is not on the list. No one else should be on the list of people. This is not right!

**** YOU TK!

**** YOU!

*This is directed at the actual person not anyone who this may resemble on the forums.*


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> As a law school dropout...
> 
> There are 4 people entitled to the poor woman's medical records.
> 
> 1. the woman,


Yep


> 2. the detective (or local equivilant, inspector ect) preferably a female officer for the purposes of investigating the rape.


Nope. Investigators typically receive a report on the results of certain tests performed by medical personnel -- on EVIDENCE collected during an exam. The report also might include minimal descriptions of any noticeable injuries noted during the exam.

Investigators would NOT receive detailed medical information about the victim, because there is no need for it and giving it to them and them receiving it would be illegal.


> 3. the womn's doctor


Assuming you mean her regular doctor...maybe. Actually, only if the information was necessary for ongoing, follow-up medical care. Any medical professional treating the patient can get the patient's medical files, but only for the purpose of continuing medical treatment.

So, for example, if EMS transported the patient to a hospital, they would give their report to the hospital. But EMS personnel would not be able to access the patient's subsequent hospital records later because they would not be providing further care. In fact, EMS personnel usually can't even access _their own_ reports after submission.


> 4. the woman's mom


Nope. Not if the victim is an adult. They're always our babies, but our parental rights stop at 18.

The same applies to husbands, children, significant others. The patient can share her records/reports with anyone she chooses, but none of those folks have any right to see the files.


----------



## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

JimKE said:


> I get it. You would have no way of knowing, but I have an extensive background both as a police rape investigator and in my retirement doing litigation support work. I know what is the norm, and what is not.
> 
> I'm just saying that this kind of abuse is even worse than any of the other workplace silliness we've heard of, because their obvious intent was to attack a legitimate rape victim. If the victim were an American, this would be a criminal violation as well as a violation of our medical privacy laws (HIPPA).


You're not getting it. It IS the norm at UBER. Not the average company, perhaps. But for UBER nothing is taboo. You think they care about HIPAA laws? Why? They don't care about ANY laws really. Look at their history. They've operated illegally pretty much everywhere they've gone. Are still illegal in many places.

Look at the way they've gone after journalists who didn't toe the line. Told drivers to do illegal things like pick up at airports and have the pax pretend to be a friend. Encourage illegal behavior by paying the resultant tickets.

This is business as usual and "the norm" for Uber.


----------



## ABC123DEF (Jun 9, 2015)

Uber is garbage. And trash. And scum. And slime. And intestinal waste.


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> You're not getting it. It IS the norm at UBER. Not the average company, perhaps. But for UBER nothing is taboo. You think they care about HIPAA laws? Why? They don't care about ANY laws really. Look at their history. They've operated illegally pretty much everywhere they've gone. Are still illegal in many places.
> 
> Look at the way they've gone after journalists who didn't toe the line. Told drivers to do illegal things like pick up at airports and have the pax pretend to be a friend. Encourage illegal behavior by paying the resultant tickets.


I agree with you on all of those things. But...there is a *big* difference between those issues and circulating a rape victim's medical records among your frat-boy bros.

If you don't see that difference, your self-righteous moralizing about Uber violating *local taxi-protection pay-to-play ordinances* rings a little hollow.

If you equate privacy of a rape victim's medical records with protecting corrupt taxi owners and politicians, there is something wrong with you.


----------



## ChinatownJake (Jan 3, 2016)

Uber might face a lawsuit over this:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/pranavdixit/the-victim-in-ubers-india-rape-case-is-considering-legal

Recode followed quickly with a second splashy report about past Uber executive actions:

https://www.recode.net/2017/6/8/157...anick-employees-sex-rules-company-celebration


----------

