Uber Executive Fired Over Reports of Sharing Rape Case Medical Records

Uber seems to be making the headlines yet again, for what is being termed a as case of  "stunning violation of privacy".

Eric Alexander, Uber’s President of business in Asia Pacific was dismissed on Tuesday. He reportedly obtained the medical records of a woman who was raped during a ride by an Uber cab driver in India.  His case was among the 215 claims reported to be handled by the two law firms Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling that are investigating into the mismanagement of cases regarding sexual harassment at the car-hailing company.

During the course of the investigation, 20 employees have been fired for misconduct and sexual harassment cases, while 100 employees are still being investigated and mandatory employee training and warnings have been issued.

According to the reports from Recode, Uber had earlier said  that Alexander was not fired, but now they found that the executive is no longer with the company, Uber declined to comment further on the issue.

It was in December 2014 that a 26-year-old was raped in New Delhi by the Uber Cab driver. The driver was already awaiting trial for criminal charges and was later arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In the Recode reports, Uber India president Amit Jain said, “Sexual assault is a terrible crime and we’re pleased he has now been brought to justice. Safety is a priority for Uber and we’ve made many improvements — in terms of new technology, enhanced background checks and better 24/7 customer support — as a result of the lessons we learned from this awful case.”

Right after the New Delhi incident, Uber came under scrutiny from the Indian government. The Delhi Police then laid criminal charges on the company for carelessly handling the issue. Uber Cabs were temporarily banned  in New Delhi, which was lifted in June 2015.

After the horrific rape incident, it was a watershed moment for Uber Company which quickly rolled out some safety features in India.

Also read: More Than 20 Employees Fired at Uber Over Sexual Harassment Probe