Less than 24 hours after the company announced new policies designed to welcome and retain women and minority employees, an Uber board member has resigned over sexist remarks he made about women during an all-hands company meeting on Tuesday.
Leaked audio obtained by Yahoo reveals an uncomfortable exchange between board members Arianna Huffington and David Bonderman, which occurred while Huffington was outlining the new initiatives designed to battle sexism.
“There’s a lot of data that shows when there’s one woman on the board, it’s much more likely that there will be a second woman on the board,” Huffington says to the room, about six minutes into the clip.
“Actually what it shows is it’s much likely to be more talking,” Bonderman quips, to which Huffington immediately shoots back, “Oh come on, David.”
The audio was leaked by early Tuesday evening, according to The Atlantic, and Bonderman submitted his resignation from the board a few hours later.
The comment reveals the unwelcoming undercurrent that runs through Uber, a multi-billion dollar ride-sharing service that has been embroiled in successive scandals that range from sexual harassment allegations to questionable business practices.
As the Atlantic notes, Bonderman’s comments aren’t particularly surprising, but the timing and delivery are especially cringeworthy.
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