The New York Times published a bombshell story soon after Fowler's post reporting that her claims weren't unique. Employees did cocaine during a company retreat, and a manager had to be fired after groping multiple women, according to the report. Former employees said they'd notified Uber's leadership, including Kalanick and CTO Thuan Pham, of the workplace harassment.
The retreat apparently wasn't an isolated thing. Kalanick's former girlfriend, Gabi Holzwarth, told Bloomberg she spoke to Holder's investigators directly about two other incidents at the company.
One of them involved a visit to an escort-karaoke bar in Seoul Uber officials made in 2014 where "four male Uber managers picked women out of the group, calling out their numbers, and sat with them," according to a report in The Information. Michael, Uber's business head, allegedly called Holzwarth directly to ask that she not divulge that story.
Among those at the bar in Seoul was Eric Alexander, an Uber exec the company let go last week amid reports about a different scandal. Alexander, reportedly obtained the medical records of an Indian rape victim and carried them around in a briefcase for a year. According to Recode, senior Uber executives, including Kalanick and Michael, were paranoid the rape was being used by one of the company's competitors in India to sabotage Uber.
Uber's problems have gone beyond its alleged bro culture to include questions about its business ethics. In March, the New York Times revealed Uber secretly deceived authorities for years with a tool called "Greyball". The company used the tool to evade authorities, particularly in cities like Boston, Paris, and Las Vegas where regulators were trying to block the ride-hailing service. The U.S. Justice Department has begun a criminal probe into "Greyball".