Uber Case Study Example

Uber Case Study: Abstract

Uber Technologies was founded in 2009. Uber transportation provides a private safe ride to its customers. Uber has a major market share, and the company is facing sexual harassment cases since 2015. This case study focuses on Uber cars' safety for women. Also, this case study analyzes alleged investigations that were made about Uber drivers' sexual harassment attempts. Therefore, it examines Uber cars safety and sexual harassment rates that were found to be done by Uber drivers.

Introduction

Uber Technologies Inc. is a transportation, and technology company that operates all around the world. Uber was founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in 2009, and the company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The company has a %67 market share in the transportation market. Uber aims to connect the customers with car owners for providing them with a private safe ride. This study case focuses on sexual assaults that were found to be done by Uber drivers. In other words, this case study aims to analyze Uber cars safety for women. There is much news, and investigations conducted on the topic. The main source for this case study is CNN investigation because it provides reliable information and facts about the sexual assaults. For instance, CNN investigation has found that at least 103 Uber drivers in the U.S. who have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers in the past four years. (“consciousness,” 2018) Also, this paper examines other resources news and reports.

Methods

This case study's methods are finding reports and news about sexual harassment that was done by Uber drivers in the last five years. The main method is to analyze investigation, reports, and news. Also, another method is to examine the company's statements and actions about the sexual harassment problem. In other words, methods are based on finding data from online surveys and collaborating them into this research paper.

Results and Findings

Uber technologies operate all around the world. The main purpose of its transportation service is to provide a private safe ride. There are various types of vehicle options that passengers can pick. However, some arguments exist in Uber cars safety.

Uber has been facing a lot of sexual assault cases that were reported in the last five years. The company tried to keep sexual assaults as a secret, and the company settled with the sexual assault victims. Specifically, Uber was facing a sexual harassment problem since 2015.

The company managed to keep sexual assaults as a secret because when they settled with a victim, the company added confidentially condition to the agreement. Therefore, sexual harassment victims could not talk with any media channels about their traumatic experiences.

One can infer that Uber drivers have been abusing their unconscious passengers during the ride. In 2017 and 2018, Uber reported more than 3000 thousand sexual harassment cases reported both for drivers and passengers. However, the majority of these sexual harassment complaints were done against by Uber drivers.

One can highlight that Uber was not taking action against its drivers' inappropriate behaviours until CNN decided to investigate the topic. Therefore, the CNN investigation has a critical role in this problem. More specifically, the investigation provides facts about Uber drivers sexual harassment to their intoxicated customers.

The investigation includes in-depth interviews with sexual harassment victims. Also, the investigation based on police reports that included sexual harassments that were found to be done by Uber drivers. The investigation indicates that there were more than 103 cases existed against Uber drivers. However, most of these cases dropped or settled with the victims under a confidential agreement.

CNN investigation claims that cases dropped because police could not find any evidence. More specifically, former Uber policies did not focus on observing their drivers' behaviours. In other words, Uber cars did not include any cameras inside of the car, and this created a problem for sexual harassment cases because this policy leads to a lack of evidence.

Another fact about Uber policies was the company did not do any background research for its drivers. Also, CNN investigation found that many of accused Uber drivers had former criminal records for similar crimes. For instance, one of the guilty Uber drivers had criminal records on child harassment. In this sense, this driver should not have been working for Uber in the first place.

Uber's lack of attention to background check have harmed innocent women who trusted Uber for a safe ride. For instance, a resident of Washington, DC, is suing Uber for negligence and consumer protection violations, after she was sexually assaulted by one of the ride-hail company’s drivers. (Hawkins, 2019) Also, another resident of New York sued Uber for representing its service as safe.

After CNN investigated the topic, Uber decided to take any action about the problem. The company spokesman state that they want to be part of the solution. More specifically, in the same year, they decided to publish reports on sexual harassments that were done both by Uber drivers and passengers. Also, they decided to change their policies, and they tried to improve their service fully.

In 2019, Uber announced that they were putting panic button inside their app. However, this decision was not enough to prevent sexual harassment attempts. Also, this decision was late because there were thousands of women who faced sexual harassment. More specifically, a lot of women sued Uber for representing their service as safe.

Other measurements of Uber included ride check feature. This qualification allowed users to check their rides when they notice abnormal behaviours or unusual ride to their destination. More specifically, this feature can be activated when the passengers' ride took longer than expected.

These qualifications made for improving Uber’s safety, but the company should have been made these improvements in 2016 when sexual harassment cases started. More specifically, the company tried to cover up the cases rather than prevent it. Also, they decided to take action when trusted resources started to publish the stories.

In the CNN investigation, there were in-depth interviews with the victims. One can highlight that these women were drunk and intoxicated during the time of the sexual assault. Only a few women found the chance to escape and dial 911.

On the other hand, women who could not escape were raped by Uber drivers. These women suffered from Uber drivers' violence, and most of these women did not get justice for it. One can argue that these women forced to be silent about sexual harassment.

Uber has faced a more serious incident in India. One of Uber drivers raped and killed a woman in India. After this event, Uber decided to sell its shares in India. One can infer that the victim in India sued Uber for violating her privacy rights. After a series of events across nations, Uber was banned from many countries, and regions because of their drivers' inappropriate behaviours and crimes.

Uber announced its first sexual harassment report in 2019. The report included five subcategories. These categories were non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part, attempted non-consensual sexual penetration, non-consensual touching of a sexual body part, non-consensual kissing of a sexual body part and non-consensual sexual penetration. (Dickey, 2019) However, the report did not include other sexual harassment types. For instance, there was not any data on threats or inappropriate behaviours such as masturbating or proposing sex to the passengers.

In 2019, Uber state that sexual harassment rates decreased by almost %16 compared to last two years. Also, Uber said that there were more rides happened and sexual harassment rates decreased. One can highlight that %99 of Uber drives were safe but %1 of sexual harassment rate created a major danger to women.

Uber represented its service safe, and in its advertisement, they used a woman who calls a Uber and goes to her home safely. On the other hand, in reality, there were more than 3000 thousand sexual harassment cases happened in 2017, and 2018.

After CNN conducted its research, Uber announced that the safety of their passengers was their first priority. They have worked with several non-profit organization for solving the problem. Also, Uber announced that they were against any type of violence, and they wanted to be part of the solution.

In 2019, there was not any other sexual harassment report conducted in the United States. Therefore, Uber’s report was the only one, and it reflected higher numbers of sexual harassments that included only Uber drivers and passengers.

The question about Uber's safety for women is arguing today because there were not a few cases against Uber. There were thousands of cases existed against Uber. Also, Uber drivers attempt to rape their intoxicated passengers when they were unconscious. Therefore, a woman who is drunk and intoxicated should reconsider calling a Uber.

Uber Case Study: Discussion and Conclusion

Uber technologies have been facing hundreds of lawsuits because of their drivers’ sexual harassments to their passengers. More specifically, these lawsuits started in 2015 and 2016. The company managed to keep this as a secret until CNN decided to investigate the topic. Also, the CNN investigation found the most important findings that forced Uber to take responsibility for change. CNN investigation found that Uber's policies did not include background checks for their drivers.

According to the investigation, more than 103 Uber drivers had former criminal records on sexual harassment. Also, the investigation found that Uber was trying to cover up the sexual harassment cases. Therefore, victims had to sign confidentially contract with Uber when their cases settled. After sexual harassment stories were released to the public, Uber decided to take action for preventing sexual harassment cases. In this sense, Uber announced that safety was their first priority and they made improvements for it. These improvements included a panic button that allows passengers to dial 991 when they are in danger. Another improvement was the ride check qualification. Uber tried to improve its service, but nobody can fully say that Uber is safe for drunk and intoxicated passengers.

References

103 Uber drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse.

Dickey, M. R. (2019, December 6). Uber reveals thousands of sexual assault reports last year.

Hawkins, A. J. (2019, April 1). Uber sued for $10 million by woman who was sexually assaulted by her driver. The Verge.