Uber Reportedly Hired an Intelligence Firm to Investigate Union Politics in Seattle
When the Seattle City Council passed an unprecedented law allowing ride-share drivers in Seattle to unionize last year, everyone knew a lawsuit was coming. But it's unlikely the politicians and labor leaders involved in the law expected this: an Uber-funded investigation of local union politics by a CIA-linked intelligence company.
The Verge reported today that soon after Seattle's unionization law passed, Uber worked with the firm Ergo—a firm "staffed by veterans from the CIA and the National Security Council"—to look into "Seattle's political stakeholders and the dynamics of labor unions in the city."
In an email obtained by The Verge, Ergo reached out to a labor historian named Trevor Griffey, seeking insight into "the recent developments in labor unionization in Seattle" and offering to pay for consultation work on the topic. The email was sent in mid-January, roughly a month after the collective bargaining ordinance was passed.
In the email, the sender identifies himself as an Ergo representative, but says his work is on behalf of a private, anonymous client and that the resulting study will not be released to the public. According to the message, the study would deal with "Seattle's political stakeholders and the dynamics of labor unions in the city." The final report was due to be submitted "relatively soon." Ergo did not respond to requests for comment.
Uber confirmed the project to The Verge, but said it wasn't targeted at any individual drivers. In the past, some individual drivers claim they have been targeted by Uber and the company's competitor Lyft after expressing interest in unionizing. After the law passed, Uber called drivers to discourage them from unionizing.
It's not the first time Uber has done business with Ergo. The ride-share company previously hired Ergo to help dig up information about the lawyer who sued Uber for allegedly violating anti-trust laws, according to a previous investigation by The Verge. A federal judge ruled this week that Uber can't use the information it got from Ergo in that case and called the whole thing "intrusive and clandestine," Reuters reports.
More here on Uber's work with Ergo in Seattle.
U.S. Judge Faults Uber, Bans Background Check in NY Lawsuit
Reuters
Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK A federal judge on Monday banned Uber Technologies Inc and its Chief Executive Travis Kalanick from using information from a background check on a passenger bringing a price-fixing lawsuit, saying the investigative firm conducting the probe may have engaged in criminal conduct.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan also faulted the popular ride-sharing service for hiring the firm, Ergo, at all.
Rakoff called it a "sad day" that Uber felt compelled to authorize what became an "intrusive and clandestine," and ultimately unsuccessful, probe to unearth damaging information about the plaintiff Spencer Meyer and his lawyer.
"The court finds perfectly appropriate an order enjoining defendants from making use of the fruits of their own troubling conduct," Rakoff wrote. "The court cannot help but be troubled by this whole dismal incident."
Monday's decision may end a battle over how Ergo, a New York-based firm founded by a former director of counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, tried to help Uber and Kalanick defend against Meyer's civil lawsuit.
Uber declined to comment. The San Francisco-based company and Kalanick have said they would agree not to use information from Ergo's probe, so long as they did not admit wrongdoing.
Ergo and its outside lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Andrew Schmidt, who is Meyer's lawyer, said he is pleased with the decision.
Meyer accused Kalanick of illegally conspiring with Uber drivers to coordinate high "surge pricing" fares during periods of heavy demand by agreeing to charge prices set by an algorithm in the Uber smartphone app for hailing rides.
Uber takes a cut of revenue that drivers generate. The company is privately held, but in June conducted a funding round valuing it at $62.5 billion.
Rakoff said Ergo crossed a line with lies its unlicensed investigator Miguel Santos-Neves told friends and acquaintances about Meyer and Schmidt in a bid to learn more about them.
The judge faulted the investigator for pretending to seek information about "up-and-coming" environmental conservation researchers and labor lawyers, when the real purpose was more likely to intimidate Meyer or hurt his case.
"Ergo, in investigating plaintiff, was engaged in fraudulent and arguably criminal conduct," Rakoff wrote.
Santos-Neves' misrepresentations, moreover, "were condoned by the highest levels of Ergo leadership," Rakoff added.
Uber has said it hired Ergo over concerns about Meyer's motivations for suing, including "legitimate security risks facing Uber personnel and first-hand experience with malicious lawsuits against executives at high-tech companies."
The case is Meyer v Kalanick, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-09796.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by W Simon and Bill Trott)