Sallie Yoo. Photo courtesy of The Business Journals.
Summary: Uber’s Sallie Yoo is resigning.
While Uber is defending itself from numerous lawsuits, its chief legal officer is leaving the company. According to Bloomberg, Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during a Tuesday staff meeting that he was making leadership changes.
This summer, Uber’s founder and troubled CEO Travis Kalanick was driven out of the company, and last week, Khrosrowshahi took his place and has announced plans to get the ride-share company back on track. At Tuesday’s meeting, he said his top priority was to hire a chief financial officer. Hours later, Salle Yoo, Uber’s Chief Legal Officer, announced her resignation.
Yoo said in her email that she was helping Khosrowshahi find her replacement and that she would stick around until one was announced.
Yoo had been with Uber for almost five years. According to Bloomberg, she was “mostly successful” in helping the company fight its regulatory issues, but she is stepping down as the company faces a new legal nightmare.
“The issues include federal probes into potential foreign bribes and the use of software to thwart law enforcement stings, as well as lawsuits alleging mistreatment of drivers, mishandling of a rape victim’s medical records in India, trade-secrets theft and illicit efforts to sniff out information from competitors,” Bloomberg said.
In her email, Yoo said she would take time off before looking for a new venture. She had only been Uber’s Chief Legal Officer since May.
“Last spring I began considering a future beyond Uber,” Yoo said in the memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal.“I’ve spent over five years at this company, and while it’s been the most exhilarating experience of my life, it’s also incredibly hard work …The idea of having dinner without my phone on the table, or a day that stays unplugged certainly sounded appealing.”
The news of Yoo’s resignation is not a surprise after the company’s head of global compliance, Joseph Spiegler, also left recently. Bloomberg said that Yoo’s role will be vital to fill because of the company’s mounting legal problems and that the company has experienced high management turnover this year, including a president, board members, and heads of departments such as business, engineering, finance, policy, product and self-driving cars.
According to Business Insider, Yoo was passionate about equal pay and diversity, and she often told human resources to adjust offer letters that she deemed unfair. Her new role as Chief Legal Officer was supposed to focus on Uber’s broader culture and legal disputes.
Before working at Uber, Yoo was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was a graduate of Boston University Law School and Scripps College.
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