… For more than a year, CNN has been pushing Uber to reveal its data on allegations of sexual abuse and assault on its platform, but Uber has said the numbers will not be ready until sometime in 2019.
LYFT V UBER IN DALLAS DRIVERS
A separate CNN investigation in April 2018, found evidence of 103 drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse by passengers since 2014, based on publicly available data including police reports. … The memo cites the financial and reputational damage that severe incidents can have on the company, which is slated to go public in 2019, noting that trust in Uber “is eroded by periodic, but serious allegations of inappropriate or illegal conduct, notably by drivers and occasionally by hostile passengers.” It was shared with select people at Uber, one former manager told CNN. The memo cites a “serious level of stress and anxiety of team members,” and notes that six members of the unit were “experiencing profound stress requiring clinical care.” “The issue of untreated depression … because of a massive caseload and the concern that an investigator must acknowledge that they are not coping well is not only real but increasing,” the memo said. Another was a manager at Chipotle before he became an investigator… According to a CNN analysis of former and current employees, one Uber investigator went from being a Starbucks barista to handling calls from victims. The memo notes that, as of May, most of the SIU’s investigators were in their 20s and 30s. But the company is still reckoning with the problems that have come along with its aggressive push to scale globally. Uber has repeatedly over the past year said that safety is its number one priority. Investigators experienced ‘profound stress’ Uber commissioned the memo as part of its “broader efforts to stand up a best-in-class, specialized investigations team,” a company spokesperson told CNN. The team - which was made up of 60 investigators and 15 team leaders at the time - was tasked with handling the most severe incidents reported to the company in North America, including verbal threats, physical and sexual assault, rape, theft and serious traffic accidents. The 26-page memo, prepared by an outside risk management consultant, says that as recently as May last year, Uber’s Special Investigations Unit was handling hundreds of cases every week. Sum and Substance: The internal investigators tasked with keeping Uber safe were overworked, underpaid and at times emotionally traumatized as they struggled under the burden of nearly 1,200 cases every week, a confidential internal memo obtained by CNN says. Stressed out and at risk: Inside Uber’s special investigations unit