Uber Board Member Halts Meeting On Sexual Harassment To Crack Sexist ‘Joke’

But, during Uber’s latest meeting focussed on shifting the ride-sharing app’s workplace culture, zero effort was apparently still too much for board member and investor David Bonderman.

In leaked audio from the all-hands meeting, Bonderman can be heard interrupting fellow board member Arianna Huffington. While discussing the addition of female board member Wan Ling Martello, Huffington said “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.”

To that, Bonderman quipped “actually, what it shows is that it’s much more likely to be more talking.”

You can imagine the limp sense of satisfaction the bloke would have felt after that tired BS tumbled out of his mouth, but by all accounts, it was not well received. Huffington said “oh, come on, David,” and many other present reportedly responded in kind.

New York Times tech journo Mike Isaac reports Bonderman sent out a memo after the incident, copping to how the comment was, uh, utterly contrary to the spirit of the meeting. And generally stupid.

from a source, this is Bonderman’s apology, fwded from Liane Hornsey to all employees. pic.twitter.com/a3YhbvaRqs

— ?_? (@MikeIsaac) June 13, 2017

Man. It is staggering to have to apologize for a offensive remark towards women made in the middle of a “culture change” presentation.

— ?_? (@MikeIsaac) June 13, 2017

Uber has faced several high-profile crises in the past few weeks, including the release of a critical report on the company’s culture and claims of sexual harassment. The meeting was held in response to the report’s findings, which drew attention to other several issues – including diversity. 

We’ll see if the next one can escape any braindead comments.