Marco della Cava, and Jessica Guynn

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — The former Uber engineer whose critical blog post has stirred a storm of controversy for the ride-hailing giant has retained an attorney, charging that her former employer is blaming her for a rash of app deletions.

Susan Fowler, whose Feb. 19 essay detailed myriad examples of sexism, tweeted Thursday that "Uber names/blames me for account deletes, and has a different law firm - not Holders (sic) - investigating me."

Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder is currently helming Uber's investigation into its own shop, after Fowler alleged that when she complained of unwanted sexual advances, human resources told her they could not discipline her boss because he was a prized employee.

Fowler also says in her tweet that she has retained the Palo Alto employment law firm of Baker Curtis & Schwartz. A message left at the firm's offices was not returned.

Uber has retained law firm Perkins Coie for the purposes of looking into Fowler's allegations, but "to be clear: they are investigating Susan's claims, not Susan personally," said spokesperson MoMo Zhou.

Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based international firm with many tech companies as clients, will report their findings to Holder, Zhou added.

Fowler's concern that she was being targeted by company officials first surfaced on Feb. 24, when she tweeted that "research on the smear campaign has begun." She then urged her friends not to provide personal information should they be contacted, adding "I don't know who is doing this or why."

At the time, Uber denied any knowledge of a smear campaign, and called such behavior "wrong."

Fowler's disclosure lead to a full blown leadership crisis at Uber. Beyond the Holder investigation, CEO Travis Kalanick and other execs held long meetings with upset employees, and faced criticism from investors who blasted the company's "toxic" environment and urged wholesales changes lest the company lose its way.

To make matters worse, an Uber driver dashcam video surfaced this week that showed Kalanick berating the driver. The CEO then issued a staff-wide apology in which he admitted that his behavior had to change and that he was seeking leadership help.

Follow USA TODAY tech reporters Marco della Cava and Jessica Guynn on Twitter.