Uber driver attempting to deliver petition to company's headquarters gets tackled to the ground

An Uber driver who said he was trying to bring a petition to the company's headquarters in San Francisco on Friday was tackled to the ground by a security guard, and suffered shoulder and back injuries that required treatment at an emergency room.

In the video, Thom Hoffman of Fremont, who's been an Uber driver for the past two years, can be seen trying to enter the building before getting pulled down from behind by a security guard.

Hoffman and a group of other Uber drivers were attempting to deliver a petition demanding executives meet with drivers to discuss driver scores and deactivation policies. However, they were not permitted to enter the building, and waited outside for an hour.

"I had stepped out to the road, and I turned around and saw people walking in," Hoffman told SFGATE. "I thought they were letting us in, and saw the third door on the left was open."

Hoffman tried to enter the building, where he was brought down by a security guard.

"Before I knew it, I was on the ground," he said. "I saw other people sort of get detained at the doors, but this guy took me down to the ground. At that point, I didn't know what was going on; I was kind of shaken."

An Uber driver who attempted to deliver a petition to the company's headquarters in San Francisco was tackled to the ground by security. An Uber driver who attempted to deliver a petition to the company's headquarters in San Francisco was tackled to the ground by security. Photo: Gig Workers Rising Photo: Gig Workers Rising Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Uber driver attempting to deliver petition to company's headquarters gets tackled to the ground 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

In a statement, Uber said the security guard worked for a third-party vendor, and has been placed on leave.

"We are very concerned by the video," the statement reads. "Our security policy is to ensure the safety of those in and around our facilities, and we will not tolerate any actions that are not in line with that policy. The individual in question has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately by our third-party vendor while the matter is being investigated."

Hoffman went to an emergency room afterwards after suffering shoulder and back injuries. None of the injuries was too serious, but he was given a shoulder sling to wear for the next few days.

The petition Hoffman attempted to deliver was signed by more than 3,000 people.

"We wanted to have have an open dialogue about deactivation, since drivers can get deactivated over three complaints, even unreasonable ones," Hoffman said. "We decided to take a casual, non-aggressive approach, but they weren't letting us in."

All of the drivers who went to Uber's headquarters on Friday are members of Gig Workers Rising, an organized labor group for app and platform workers.

Hoffman has yet to decide if he'll press charges.

"I don't want to see him fired; I'm not that kind of person, but something needs to happen to him, and if that means I have to do something, we'll see," Hoffman said. "But he has no business being in the security business if he has an aggression problem."

Eric Ting is an SFGATE staff writer. Email him at eting@sfchronicle.com and follow him on Twitter

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