Uber cans engineering exec over sexual harassment allegations from prior job

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has asked for, and received, the resignation of Amit Singhal, senior vice president of engineering since last month. The move came after Uber learned that Singhal had not told the company that his departure from Google in early 2016 was related to a sexual harassment allegation, according to Recode.

Uber reportedly failed to uncover the situation during its vetting process when hiring Singhal, who disputed the allegations prior to resigning from Google (and again to Recode on Monday). However, Google's investigation at the time found the employee's allegations to be "credible."

Piling on: Uber's reputation was severely damaged last week when a former engineer alleged sexual harassment and discrimination she experienced while working at the company. Although the circumstances of Singhal's departure from Google are entirely unrelated, Uber's failure to find out about the incident as part of its background check only adds to the narrative. On the other hand, Kalanick's response is in line with his recent stance that Uber will not tolerate harassment—a statement many have been skeptical about. The company also maintains that Singhal did not disclose this as part of his hiring process, and it did not come up through Uber's usual vetting practices for new hires.

The story has been updated with additional details about Singhal's hiring.