
Uber settles with woman over obtaining medical records after she was raped - bdcravens
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/09/uber-settles-lawsuit-with-woman-who-accused-executives-of-obtaining-medical-records-after-she-was-raped/
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jacquesm
I hope she took them to the cleaners. Whatever makes executives think they can
get away with this is an open question, I also strongly believe that
regardless of whether or not the woman pursues this there should be some kind
of criminal penalty for the executive(s) involved assuming they are found
guilty. And then there is the question how they managed to obtain these
records in the first place, the local authorities really should be interested
in that.

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jimnotgym
I can see why Uber don't think the law applies to them. It's probably because
the law in the UK, for instance, doesn't apply to them[0]. this group already
showed at tribunal that Uber should be charging sales tax, and HMRC (IRS for
the UK) is refusing to take action. The conclusion many are coming to is that
there is a sweetheart deal between the UK and our colonial masters in the US
to allow Big Tech tax free access to our backwater.

[0][https://goodlawproject.org/uber-case/](https://goodlawproject.org/uber-
case/)

~~~
Blazespinnaker
Didn't think. I believe it's reasonable to use past tense now. They really
shook things up.

The question remains though if it's reasonable to continue to use uber. Is it
a good idea to reward such awful behavior in the startup phase? IMHO, I think
not. I'd prefer to use lyft and hopefully send a message (however minuscule)
that startups shouldn't act this way at any point in their life.

~~~
jimnotgym
I just call a taxi firm. I always know the local firms number, because it is a
transposition of my desk phone number at work! I take a lot of calls wanting a
taxi, and god are people rude to people they think they can get away with. I
have half a mind some days to say 'yes, be with you in 10 minutes'.

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pimmen
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; engineers, is there really no
other company with the same interesting problems to work on but Uber? I can
understand staying with a company past a big scandal and shake up in
management, who knows, maybe you’ll be remembered as one of the people who
made the company better now that the only way is up. But when scandal after
scandal after scandal rolls by, and the common denominator of them is the very
people who works there, is this really the company you want to support?

Why did you become an engineer? I can understand if your answer is money,
respect or ”doing math and coding is fun” really, that’s enough for me, you
don’t need to do it to save the world, and Uber does offer money, respect, and
opportunities to do math and code. But, wouldn’t you rather sleep knowing you
don’t support a company that screws over people like this poor woman? There
are plenty of companies screaming after good engineers, why do you support
such a rotten, morally bankrupt management by writing their code for them? Can
you honestly talk about the stuff you knew your company did, and all the
opportunities out there you passed on, to your children with a straight face?

Because I would like to see the snakes in Uber’s management write their own
code and explain away responsibility the next time a scandal hits them.

~~~
misun78
I will also directly address this comment as an Uber engineer without any deep
vested commitment to Uber i.e. not an early employee who can't leave for the
FANGs of the world for the same incentives.

Your viewpoint is incredibly naive and dangerous I am sorry. There are a few
nuances worth understanding:

1\. A lot of Uber's rotten culture stems from top-down, from Travis, who while
not intending malice, operated from a viewpoint of fear and paranoia. That
very top-down set up has now been replaced all the way up from the CEO. Why
would someone not want to be part of that especially when you're able to see
the change first-hand. Past skeletons still need to be cleared out but what
happens once the company starts afresh?. You owe it to yourself to keep an
open mind and not prophesize the very one-sides narrative that sells a lot
better in the media circles.

2\. While I can sympathize with #1, I am not sure how you can make the claim
that Uber is in the business of screwing people over. It's outsized impact to
consumers – both riders and drivers – is the favorite aspect of working at
Uber. Most of us would otherwise be busy forcing people to click on spammy
ads. Uber for me has helped blur the line between digital and human impact and
I have first-hand noticed the impact from my work. Think about how fewer
riders need to drink and drive because of Uber. In most of our cities, drivers
who initially would have no source of part-time income, are now able to make
money for all sorts of needs (help kids pay for college, side-gig while
recovering from an injury are ones I have heard first-hand recently). Hearing
these stories is inspiring. It compels you to get rid of the bad parts and be
part of the change. In addressing your direct comment, I am proud to tell my
kids the opportunities I have helped create for people across the world.

Now if only we figured out to sell our story better and win people over such
as yourself. Give us some time :)

~~~
pimmen
I do agree that a lot of Uber’s impact is positive on both riders and drivers.
Every time an Uber scandal rolls by I’ve heard the same two quotes from
friends and family; ”Really? All I know about Uber is that when I used them in
a completely foreign country it was still the best taxi experience I’ve ever
had” or ”My son drives for them to get money on the side in college”. People
are amazed about these two sides; management not really caring about who or
what is in the way and the employees such as yourself delivering such great
value.

I’m not going to pretend my employer is Jesus or something, they’ve done their
fair share of bad stuff that puts their name in the paper too, but I
personally feel like there is a line. When you witness so many cases of the
management prioritizing profit over being decent, doesn’t that bother you? I
could pull up five serious cases of abuse of trust Uber is directly
responsible for that happened just this year, is there a number of infractions
on the magnitude this poor woman has suffered that would make you leave?

~~~
BoiledCabbage
This thread is incredible to be. I think it really is an HN/SV bubble, but
people really can't stop comparing and equating moral failures and business
success.

Moral failures (which Uber has shown time and time again) should not be
compared to whether or not their business is useful to you. Business failures
should be compared to business success, and moral bad should be compared with
moral good. Uber has shown little to zero moral good. Not treating their
employees who drive for them like crap would be a good place to start. Or
their customers when raped would be another.

Lyft also provides huge business value in the exact same industry but without
all the immoral baggage (as far as I've seen).

But this view on HN hat business value somehow replaces moral value mind
boggling.

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anarchimedes
Naive question: when does the executive and cultural behavior represent enough
of a risk to be a tipping point for investors to completely pull their
investment?

~~~
icebraining
What does "pull their investment" mean, though? Uber has burned through most
of their cash, and the assets they have are mostly unsellable (name
recognition, relationships with partners, workers with experience, etc). When
you buy a lottery ticket, there's nothing to gain from ripping it apart before
the numbers are called.

~~~
justboxing
> Uber has burned through most of their cash, and the assets they have are
> mostly unsellable

Source?

~~~
icebraining
Regarding the first, this article says in August they only had $6.6B from the
$15B they raised: [https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/23/uber-is-still-burning-
cas...](https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/23/uber-is-still-burning-cash-at-a-
rate-of-2-billion-a-year/)

Regarding the second, it's my opinion based on what we know of them vs
competitors. The software may be good, but it hardly justifies a difference of
$60B compared to Lyft's $11B valuation, let alone Cabify's $320M. I'm pretty
sure their offices are not worth that much either. So most of their worth
comes from the stuff I mentioned in the previous post, but that can't be sold.

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partycoder
As usual, Uber throwing money at people to clean up after their mess.

Where is this money coming from? You.

Stop. Using. Uber.

~~~
GoatOfAplomb
Isn't Uber losing money on every ride?

~~~
jeffdavis
They aren't a charity. Either they are making money from the ride, or they are
using your choice of uber as a way to attract more investment.

~~~
Dylan16807
They're not a charity, but they can easily be _wrong_. Companies go out of
business all the time.

