Uber, the ride-sharing tech giant, has responded to the violent white nationalist rally last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia by promising to ban people who discriminate in any way from using the Uber app.
“We were horrified by the neo-Nazi demonstration that took place in Charlottesville, which resulted in the loss of life of a young woman as well as two Virginia State Troopers responding to the protest,” said Meghan Verena Joyce, Uber’s regional manager for the United States and Canada, in a statement sent to The Daily Caller on Thursday evening.
“We will act swiftly and decisively to uphold our Community Guidelines, including our policy against discrimination of any kind — this includes banning people from the app,” the statement also said. “Now more than ever we must stand together against hatred and violence.”
“There is simply no place for this type of bigotry, discrimination, and hate.”
“As the country braces for more white supremacist demonstrations, we wanted to let you know what we are doing for the Uber community.”
The community guidelines to which Uber alludes is quite a document. It clocks in at 4,453 words and it carefully circumscribes the acceptable behaviors allowed by drivers and passengers.
“Any behavior involving violence, sexual misconduct, harassment, discrimination, or illegal activity while using Uber can result in the immediate loss of access to your account,” one pertinent paragraph explains.
“Uber has a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind. This means you will lose access to your account if you are found to have discriminated against drivers or other riders based on their race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, gender identity, age or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.”
“Any behavior involving violence, sexual misconduct, harassment, discrimination, or illegal activity while using Uber can result in the immediate loss of access to your account.”
In its Thursday statement, Uber added that its ride-sharing app offers “24/7 in-app support” “to answer questions and address concerns.”
“You always have the right to end your trip if you feel uncomfortable or disrespected.”
Allegations of sexual harassment, systemic sexism, rampant lewd behavior, and cutthroat work culture, as well as a number of varying lawsuits have sullied Uber’s reputation in recent months. (RELATED: Uber Has Suffered So Many Embarrassments, It’s Hard To Keep Track)
Earlier this year, Susan J. Folwer, a former female engineer for Uber, wrote a highly disturbing and incredibly creepy account of her time at the ride-hailing company.
“It was clear that he was trying to get me to have sex with him, and it was so clearly out of line that I immediately took screenshots of these chat messages and reported him to HR,” Fowler wrote in a tell-all blog post, which included accusations of unfair treatment after reporting a frisky manager.
On Saturday in Charlottesville, a Nazi sympathizer allegedly plowed his grey Dodge Challenger through a large group of people on a pedestrian mall, killing one woman and injuring 19 others.
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