Uber
Profile
Uber is a taxi and food delivery service that contracts with gig workers and their vehicles. Founded in 2009, it uses phone location data to match drivers and customers. The first scandal to surface at the company was the use of customer data to spy on them using a tool called "God View.” Later the company was exposed for using another tool called “Greyball” to evade police and government officials as well as unwanted customers. Uber has been heavily criticized for stealing taxi driver jobs, as well as for paying workers less than minimum wage and refusing to offer benefits such as healthcare and paid leave. Several legal challenges have been brought against Uber as well as a ballot initiative in California over these rights.
Mobile app offering ride sharing and food delivery services.
Violations
| Top 5 Offense Groups (Groups Defined) | Penalty Total | Number of Records |
|---|---|---|
| consumer-protection-related offenses | $198,020,000 | 5 |
| employment-related offenses | $65,642,312 | 12 |
(May 24, 2021)
Stories
Brazil: Uber Driver Accused of Anti-Candomblé Religious Intolerance
He refused to take to a terreiro a family dressed according to their religion, and is now under police investigation.
by Massimo Introvigne
Children working as riders for food delivery apps - BBC investigation
A black-market trade in delivery app accounts allows underage teenagers to sign up as riders, the BBC has found.
The family of a 17-year-old who died while working as a Deliveroo rider - despite 18 being the minimum age - say the company is "unaccountable".
Uber and Lyft agree to pay $328m to New York drivers
Ride-sharing firms Uber and Lyft will pay $328m (£269m) to settle claims they "systematically cheated" New York drivers out of pay and benefits.
It resolves a long investigation by the New York attorney general, who called it the largest wage theft settlement in her office's history.
Uber’s self-driving car saw the pedestrian but didn’t swerve – report
An Uber self-driving test car which killed a woman crossing the street detected her but decided not to react immediately, a report has said.
Uber barred from resuming Arizona self-drive trial
image copyrightReuters
Uber accused of silencing women who claim sexual assault by drivers
Uber is trying to force women who say they were sexually assaulted by drivers to resolve their claims behind closed doors rather than in the courts,a move that critics say silences victims and shields the company from public scrutiny.
Uber drivers often make below minimum wage, report finds
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
'Greed is good': ex-Uber boss likened to Gordon Gekko at trade secrets trial
A scene from the 1987 movie Wall Street became a flashpoint in the trial in which Google’s driverless car spinoff Waymo accuses the ride-hailing company Uber of stealing trade secrets.
Uber Used Clandestine Technology Tool To Thwart Police Raids
Uber, the global taxi technology company, has been using a clandestine tool named "Ripley" to thwart government oversight of the ride-sharing company by restricting
Factbox: Uber's legal challenges around the world
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
Uber settles lawsuit over child’s death
Uber has settled a lawsuit with the family of a child killed by one of its drivers in San Francisco, in one of the most high-profile cases to raise questions about the safety risks of the ride-sharing market.
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Activism
Taxi driver unions protest Uber’s return to Barcelona
Renato Brito and Aritz Parra | AP News | March 18, 2021
Hundreds of yellow-and-black taxi cabs disrupted traffic in Barcelona on Thursday to protest the return of the ride-hailing giant Uber to the northeastern Spanish city after a 2-year hiatus.
Germany's taxi drivers protest Uber deregulation plans
DW | April 10, 2019
An industry body has called the demonstrations "the largest taxi protest" in Germany's modern history. Taxi drivers are rallying against plans to open Germany to ride-hailing services like Uber.
Hundreds of cab drivers protest Uber in Warsaw
Phys Org | April 8, 2019
Hundreds of taxi drivers on Monday blocked downtown Warsaw in protest over a Polish draft law they see as favourable to ride-sharing app Uber as well as over US support for the American firm.
Taxi drivers protest against Uber 'invasion' in Greece
Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Alkis Konstantinidis | Reuters | March 16, 2018
Hundreds of taxi drivers marched in central Athens on Tuesday to protest at what they called an “invasion” by Uber, and attacked passing cars they thought were being used by the ride-hailing service.
Taxis sow traffic chaos in Europe protesting against Uber car app
Jack Stubbs and Brian Love | Chicago Tribune | June 11, 2014
Taxi drivers sowed traffic chaos in Europe's top cities on Wednesday by mounting one of the biggest protests ever against Uber, a U.S. car service whose smartphone app summons rides at the touch of a button.
& Lawsuits
California regulator adopts EV mandate for Uber, Lyft ride-hail fleets
Tina Bellon | Reuters | May 20, 2021
California's clean air regulator on Thursday adopted rules to mandate that nearly all trips on Uber's and Lyft's ride-hailing platforms have to be in electric vehicles over the next few years, the first such regulation by a U.S. state.
Uber Fined $59 Million After Stonewalling Investigation Into Sexual Violence
Edward Ongweso Jr | Vice | December 17, 2020
After a year spent refusing to give California regulators detailed information on sexual assault and harassment claims made by drivers and riders, Uber is being fined $59 million.
Uber settles federal investigation into workplace culture
Kate Conger | The New York Times | December 19, 2019
In 2017, a former Uber employee wrote a public essay describing how the ride-hailing company had permitted sexual harassment to fester at the workplace.
Uber stopped its own investigators from reporting crimes to the police
Sean O'Kane | The Verge | September 25, 2019
The special investigations team inside Uber, which fields complaints from riders and drivers, is not allowed to escalate those issues to law enforcement or file official police reports “even when they get confessions of felonies,” according to The Washington Post.
& Relations
A year into the pandemic, Uber and Lyft drivers say gig companies are still failing them. They blame Prop 22.
Tyler Sonnemaker | Business Insider | Feb 16, 2021
Rideshare and food delivery drivers are planning to protest Wednesday outside Uber's headquarters in San Francisco, California, over what they say is gig companies' continued failure to protect them nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rideshare drivers stage caravan protest over Uber’s labor practices
Megan Rose Dickey | Tech Crunch | May 11, 2020
Around 100 Uber and Lyft drivers are staging a caravan protest at Uber’s San Francisco headquarters to demand Uber comply with gig worker protections law AB 5, pay into the state’s unemployment insurance fund and drop the ballot initiative it proposed along with Lyft and DoorDash ...
Uber drivers block traffic in Manhattan, protesting low pay and poor working conditions
Annie Nova | CNBC | September 7, 2019
More than 1,000 Uber and Lyft drivers protested their pay and working conditions on Tuesday by blocking rush-hour traffic in Manhattan. Earlier this year, CNBC interviewed several Uber drivers about their financial lives. Below are their stories.
Southern California Uber drivers protest company’s new price model
Madeline Ottilie | USC Annenberg Media |March 26, 2019
Tina Turrieta drives for Uber full time. She's a single mom, who was laid off her job in December. She says Uber's new pay cuts make her feel hopeless.
Financials
Note: Not all sources provide complete lists.
Croctail Subsidiary Tool using the CorpWatch API - This API uses automated parsers to extract the subsidiary relationship information from Exhibit 21 of companies' 10-K filings with the SEC.
Click here for the latest list.
Political Influence
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Uber Technologies
& Evasion
How Uber Australia fills a Dutch 'cash pool' and why it is fighting an $81.5m payroll tax bill
Nassim Khadem | ABC News | September 7, 2021
Uber Australia has continued its longstanding practice of sending revenue to its head company in the Netherlands.
'Champions League of tax avoidance:' Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on nearly $6 billion in revenue, report says
Tyler Sonnemaker | Insider | May 11, 2021
Uber has been using a complex tax shelter involving around 50 Dutch shell companies to reduce its global tax bill, according to recent research from the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research.
How Uber plays the tax shell game
Brain O'Keefe & Marty Jones | Fortune | October 22, 2015
The VCs were desperate to give him more money. It was the spring of 2013, and Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick was weeks away from negotiating a new round of venture capital financing that would multiply the valuation of his car-hailing startup by a factor of 10—from a mere $330 million to $3.5 billion.