More than 1,000 Uber employees signed a letter to the company’s board of directors Thursday asking for the return of former CEO Travis Kalanick, who resigned after a shareholder revolt Wednesday.
The letter, obtained by Axios, is the product of an online petition “signed” by roughly 10 percent of Uber’s non-driving work force. The employees were able to add their names and comments to a Google document after gaining access using their Uber credentials.
Kalanick resigned after receiving a letter demanding a leadership change from a group of five large shareholders, who together represent roughly 40 percent of Uber’s voting power.
The shareholders’ insistence on Kalanick’s departure came after months of prolonged scandal, during which the company faced allegations of a hostile workplace culture and an intellectual property lawsuit from Waymo, a self driving car company owned by Google’s parent company.
Uber’s board recruited former Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct an investigation into workplace culture in March after 20 employees were fired over sexual harassment allegations. (RELATED: Uber CEO Resigns After Shareholders Revolt)
In their letter demanding Kalanick’s resignation, the shareholders argued that the company required new leadership to move on after a turbulent start to the year. Employees pushed back, arguing that the shareholders made a short-sighted decision and asking for Kalanick to be returned to a “operation role.”
“Yes, Travis is flawed, as we all are,” the employees wrote. “But his passion, vision, and dedication to Uber are simply unmatched. We would not be here today without him, and believe he can evolve into the leader we need. He is critical to our future success.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.