Uber called its recent union deal ‘historic.’ A new complaint alleges it was actually against the law.
On Sunday evening, Uber released a new statement regarding accusations of sexual harassment against its CEO, Travis Kalanick, and company VP of HR, Emil Michael.
The company’s statement came after a suit was filed against Uber by a woman who alleges Kalanick sexually harassed her in December 2015. It also came after a separate complaint was filed by a woman against the company in California alleging its UberPOOL program was created illegally.
In a statement released on Sunday, Uber said, “UberPOOL is a legally available service in California, and that Uber has made several changes to the way it handles complaints about its vehicles in line with the law, including increasing the number of ways it will handle complaints about drivers in California.”
It also claimed, “While UberPOOL is no longer available as a means of complaint in any carpooling situation, Uber does not tolerate sexual harassment and will take action where warranted.”
This is a statement from Uber, which is trying to make it seem like they are not only “tolerating” sexual harassment, but also the illegal version.
Uber has a history of turning legal disputes about their UberPOOL service into a shtick to make customers believe they are winning the argument and the case is about the legality of UberPOOL.
However, the actual facts of the case don’t say much about whether Uber is legally allowed to do whatever it wants with the program.
The law in question
The law in question is the California Public Records Act, commonly known as the CCPA, which allows for the release of documents regarding potential public business information.
Under the CCPA, all records relating to a public agency’s business operations are public information and must be disclosed to the public on a timely basis unless it is subject to a protective order.
As a public agency, the DMV (California Department of Motor Vehicles) is required to release all records relevant to its business operations