Judit Dombi is the Blog Liaison Officer in WEC. In her professional life, she works for a European Union Agency, which deals with cooperation of law enforcement activities in Europe. She is passionate about ethics, ethical behaviours in different professions and organisational development. She sees the value in transparency and conflicts, which led her to be a trained mediator in 2022. She is a fond of plants and outdoor running.

You can connect with Judit on LinkedIn.

This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated.

On 10 July 2022, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a detailed report on Uber's unethical and unlawful operations in Europe between 2013 and 2017. It contains icky details on how the tech giant used gorilla methods to grow, got access to high-level politicians at the national and European Union level to avoid compliance with the law, and hid data from law enforcement during raids. Uber has not only destroyed the livelihood of many taxi drivers, but it ruthlessly disregarded the regulatory environment and court rulings, which led to its infamous business model of “ move fast and break things.” As the expansion methods were rather aggressive and not regulated then, Uber needed European politicians' support to bend national laws to their advantage. And some of the politicians did not have a problem with it.

The Uber files is a perfect example of failed personal integrities, showing how much work needs to be done by compliance and ethics professionals to improve the system.

Embrace the chaos

Uber's business model was not regulated in many European countries when it was launched. The company plunged into markets in a regulatory vacuum without government approvals, making Uber's drivers the target of traditional cabbies' rage. Taxi drivers saw their business threatened by competitors who didn't have to play by the same rules. This created outrage among taxi drivers and triggered many protests around Europe.

In many cases, Uber turned this to its advantage, tried to paint a bad picture about the taxi drivers, and voiced it in the media. When it went all too far, or as they called the “pyramid of shits,” Uber needed support. Thus, high-lobbying activity began to find ways of avoiding legal consequences and continuing operation and expansion.

Lobbying all around

Lobbying as such is not illegal yet can be unethical. When government officials receive discounts on Uber rides, are invited to luxurious lunches, are provided with advice about jobs, or free political campaign work, it is questionable how such activity can be seen as ethical or transparent. The response to such lobbying activity raises the question of the moral compass of many public officials, according to the report.

During these years, Uber lobbyists were the best-paid employees in the company, and not without reason. They did their job well by building a relationship with high-level politicians and convincing them about the economic value of Uber in the given country. To get things moving quicker, the CEO of Uber descended to Davos during the World Economic Forum in 2016 to strike deals with world leaders and oligarchs. They were winning support from many sides. Yet, protests continued, and law enforcement appeared in Uber's offices.

No data, no investigation

Uber was not shy to use stealth technology to thwart government investigations and to hide company data. The so-called 'kill switch' cut access to company servers and prevented authorities from seizing evidence during raids on Uber offices. This was used during the raids in Amsterdam in 2015 and Paris in 2014, ordered by the higher management. Uber created an internal document on how to deal with situations when law enforcement, auditors, and inspectors arrive. The manual, called Dawn Raid Manual, contained 2600 words and included instructions like “Move the Regulators into a meeting room that does not contain any files or access to internal IT system” and “Remain calm, be friendly, and take time to think.”

Meanwhile, Uber was never charged with obstruction of justice, and the company argues that it shut down machines so the investigators could see only what they needed. While protection of personal data and business information is indeed essential, as one Dutch expert explained “If a raid by a supervisor or economic investigator has already begun, and it has been made clear that copies of records are being requested, a company may no longer intervene by making them inaccessible.” Otherwise, it is indeed the obstruction of justice.

Ethics in the European Union? Not yet

Uber's lobbying activity was successful even at the European Union level. Neelie Kroes, a former Dutch transportation minister who served as vice president of the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, was receptive to helping Uber whenever she could. According to the report, she used her influence to press a Dutch minister and other members of the government “to force regulator and police to back off” from an investigation of Uber's Amsterdam office. This was all done while she was an EU commissioner. About a year after leaving the EU Commission in October 2014, Kroes asked to be allowed to join a paid Uber advisory board, despite an 18-month so-called cooling-off period that forbids former commissioners from lobbying ex-colleagues. The Commission turned her down and denied her appeal. Yet, she did it anyway. Records show Uber offered her $200,000 to chair the board. On top of all, the ethics code of the EU Commission also requires commissioners to “behave in a manner that is in keeping with the dignity and the duties of their office, both during and after their term.” It also requires them to “behave with integrity and discretion … even beyond the 18 months after ceasing to hold office.” This, again, did not seem to be applied to her.

This phenomenon, known as the “revolving door,” which has many examples within the institutions of the European Union, received criticism from the European Ombudsman in a press release issued in May 2022. It pointed out the European Commission's blind eye on the matter.

Some believe that all these problems soon will be remedied by the proposed concept of an Independent Ethics Body. This new proposed Body stipulates to use of standardized ethical rules for all EU institutions. Translating this idea at the country level would mean that the same ethical guidelines apply to judges as to the politicians in the government. The idea, however, does not win many supporters amongst the institutions because they argue that their nature, mission, and composition are very different. Nevertheless, the EU Commission plans a meeting to discuss the proposal in September. As EU legislation process can sometimes be burdensome, I hope that the development of this important body will happen sooner than later.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Speak slower.

If you had to choose an alternative career, what would you be doing now?

Mediator.

At the end of your career, if you were to sit and reflect, what one hope do you have?

Which end? Which career?

Uber Files