In the 13-page Covington & Burling report released last week by Uber Technologies Inc. in response to claims of harassment and bias at the company, one theme kept popping up: gaps in the human resources department’s communication with in-house counsel. Three of the 47 recommendations made by Covington partners Tammy Albarrán and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder following their investigation of the company’s culture and practices suggested Uber’s human resources department should have been better trained at spotting legal issues and knowing when to involve in-house counsel on complaints and employee terminations.
One recommendation was for the company to hire or identify an “owner” of human resources policy, someone responsible for “drafting new policies and updating existing policies, through whom all updates to the policies flow, and who also serves as a repository of critical information relating to Uber’s policies and practices.”
