The Company started investigation allegations that Liane Hornsey systematically dismissed internal complaints of racial discrimination.
In a case of racial discrimination, a senior executive at Uber, Liane Hornsey, resigned after allegations against her were investigated.
Hornsey joined the company 18 months back, after quitting Google, and was HR head of the cab-sharing service. Her resignation comes on the heels of the controversy around the firm’s founder, Travis Kalanick, who had to quit following reports of gender discrimination and harassment.
The move has further dented the image of the Company, which has been criticised for its toxic culture. Hornsey had quite a reputation as a former Googler and was considered one of the well-regarded names in tech industry HR.
Uber started investigating the allegations after anonymous whistleblowers at the Company claimed Hornsey systematically dismissed internal complaints of racial discrimination. They revealed that complaints to the firm’s internal anonymous tip line never received any attention, especially cases related to issues of race.
Some employees also said that Hornsey had even used discriminatory language and made derogatory comments about fellow Uber collegaues.
The investigation was carried out by Gibson Dunn, a law firm which substantiated some of the allegations made. A second investigation is also expected.
In a separate e-mail to the employees, Hornsey said she realised her exit “comes a little out of the blue for some of you, but I have been thinking about this for a while”.