California district attorneys accused Uber of weak background checks that led to the hiring of 25 drivers with criminal records. Uber settled for at least $10 million.
Hired a private investigator to investigate litigation adversaries
Uber hired a private investigator to interview friends and colleagues of Stephen Meyer, plaintiff in class action litigation against Uber, as well as Meyer’s attorneys. Interviewing acquaintances and professional colleagues, the PI falsely claimed to be “profiling top up-and-coming” leaders and conducting “real estate market research.” When plaintiff’s counsel learned about these inquiries and asked Uber’s counsel whether Uber had hired a PI, Uber attorneys claimed “Whoever is behind these calls, it is not us.” But as evidence mounted, Uber eventually admitted to having initiated the investigation.
In criticizing Uber’s decision to “hire unlicensed private investigators to conduct secret personal investigation of both the plaintiff and his counsel” as well as the “blatant misrepresentations” and “false pretenses” of the investigation, federal judge Jed Rakoff found “sufficient basis to suspect that Ergo had committed fraud in investigating plaintiff through the use of false pretenses” and that Uber’s instructions had furthered the fraud. Uber paid an undisclosed sum to plaintiff and plaintiff’s attorneys to resolve this misconduct.
Rakoff’s decision indicates that Uber’s investigation of Meyer and his attorneys was initiated by Uber then-General Counsel Salle Yoo who sought assistance from Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan.
Private investigator’s report. Uber staff communicated with private investigator using Wickr, a self-deleting messaging app, though some messages were recovered during subsequent litigation.
Meyer v. Kalanick – litigation docket
Analyzed customers’ “Rides of Glory”
Uber staff analyzed passengers’ rides to and from unfamiliar overnight locations to chronicle and tabulate one-night-stands. Uber explained the methodology: “A RoGer [Ride of Glory user] is anyone who took a ride between 10pm and 4am on a Friday or Saturday night, and then took a second ride from within 1/10th of a mile of the previous nights’ drop-off point 4-6 hours later (enough for a quick night’s sleep).”
Uber counted the number of such users in various cities, then assessed the most common such neighborhoods and which weekends have the most ROG’s. Uber published the analysis, including highlighted neighborhood maps, on a corporate blog.
Who’s Driving You? preserved Uber’s since-deleted “Rides of Glory” blog post.
Proposed to “dig up dirt” on reporters
Uber Senior Vice President of Business Emil Michael proposed spending $1 million to target reporters who wrote unfavorable stories about Uber. In particular, Emil proposed to hire researchers and journalists who would publish unflattering research about the reporters’ personal lives.
Coverage from The Verge.