Board member Arianna Huffington and other executives repeatedly said they support Travis Kalanick despite weeks of turmoil and public relations crises

Top executives at Uber defended its CEO, Travis Kalanick, on Tuesday, claiming that the company roiled by scandals can “fundamentally change” its culture with the embattled founder at the helm.

Board member Arianna Huffington and two executives repeatedly said they supported Kalanick during a conference call with reporters. The call was the latest damage-control effort at the ride-sharing company, which has faced weeks of turmoil and public relations crises including a massive sexual harassment scandal, a series of high-profile departures, an explosive intellectual property lawsuit and revelations that the company used secret software to deceive law enforcement.

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“There’s a real appetite for change internally,” said Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post. “I want to make sure that the company we build at Uber reflects really the best in the workplace, so no woman ever has to choose between advancing her career and completely unacceptable treatment.”

The news conference came a month after former engineer Susan Fowler went public with claims of sexual harassment and discrimination, alleging that management protected a repeat offender and threatened to fire her for speaking up. Over the weekend, Uber’s president, Jeff Jones, also announced he was leaving the company after just six months, saying: “The beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber.”

In addition to the departures of two vice-presidents and a top security researcher, Amit Singhal, Uber’s top engineering executive, stepped down just five weeks after his appointment due to allegations he failed to disclose a past accusation of sexual harassment at Google.

The exodus of top executives has increased scrutiny on Kalanick, who has been at the center of a string of scandals, including when footage emerged of him berating an Uber driver for questioning him about the company’s treatment of drivers.

The Uber executives told reporters that Kalanick’s decision to hire a chief operating officer would help reform leadership and the company culture. But they repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether the CEO would step down if an ongoing investigation, led by former attorney general Eric Holder, recommended his departure or if the board asked him to resign.

“The board is confident in Travis,” said Huffington, praising his recent “evolution”. “Uber and the whole ride-sharing industry would not be where it is today without Travis.”



Kalanick was not on the call, because, the executives claimed, he was doing COO interviews.

“The focus of the company has been on the business and not the employees,” said Liane Hornsey, chief human resources officer. “It’s time to rectify that balance … Travis has given me full license to do what it takes.”

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Rachel Holt, head of US and Canada business, also vowed to “bring more humanity to the way we interact with drivers” and said the company was doing so by improving its app and reforming its process for addressing rider complaints.

Her comments come as Uber is aggressively organizing against unionization efforts in Seattle. The company has long faced criticisms from drivers and labor activists about poor wages and its refusal to treat drivers as employees with basic benefits and protections.

“We’ve underinvested in the driver experience and relationships with many drivers are frayed,” Holt said.

Kalanick previously apologized for his comments caught on camera, saying he needed “leadership help” and that he recognizes he “must fundamentally change … and grow up”. In February, a viral #DeleteUber campaign also pressured Kalanick to step down from Donald Trump’s economic advisory council.

Uber’s defiance of government regulations has also sparked intensifying criticisms. When the company rolled out self-driving cars in San Francisco without a permit, the vehicles were caught running red lights. Uber publicly blamed “human error”, but the New York Times later reported that the company’s statements were false and that the autonomous technology failed.

At the same time, Uber is facing a potentially devastating lawsuit from Google, which has accused the startup of “calculated theft” of its self-driving technology.

Hornsey also acknowledged that Uber’s culture of “disruption” has led to a “cult of the individual” and claimed the company’s approach to change “will not be top-down”. She said the company is now doing new trainings called Why Diversity Matters, How to be an Ally and Building Inclusive Teams.

She further vowed to publish a diversity report by the end of the month. Unlike most of its peers in the tech industry, Uber has repeatedly refused to release data on the demographics of its employees.