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Uber OKs prison time as workplace hazard

By
Kaja Whitehouse
Published Sep. 3, 2014, 4:55 a.m. ET

Would you go to jail for your CEO?

If you worked for private car service company Uber, you might have no choice.

Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick OK’d prison time as a workplace hazard on Tuesday when the startup announced it would continue to operate in Germany despite a nationwide ban.

A Frankfurt court placed an emergency ban on Uber’s German operations amid complaints from the taxi industry that it is in violation of the country’s rules for transporting customers.

The ban is in effect until a more formal hearing on the matter can be held.

In the meantime, violations can result in large fines — up to $330,000 — to the company, not its drivers.

Alternatively, the court can order up to six months in the clink for an “Uber-Direktor,” which means director or manager in German.

Uber has at least seven employees in Germany, including two general managers and three operational managers, according to LinkedIn.

The employees were either difficult to reach or didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday about the risk of going to jail for Uber.

Uber didn’t return a request Tuesday for comment about its understanding of who might go to jail — or whether Kalanick would be willing to do the time himself.

“You can’t put the brakes on progress,” Uber said in a blog post in response to a Frankfurt court injunction.

“Uber will continue its operations — and will continue to offer its services via its app — throughout Germany,” Uber said.

Uber said it will appeal the decision, which only affects its lower-cost ride sharing service, UberPop.

Uber’s higher-end car service, Uber Black, was unaffected by the ban.

The temporary injunction was sought by Germany’s taxi association, Taxi Deutschland, which complained that Uber — which connects passengers and drivers through a mobile app — evades certain requirements of the taxi industry by claiming it’s a tech company rather than a taxi company.

Unlike traditional taxi companies, Uber doesn’t employ its drivers or own the cars. It uses its app to hook up drivers of its choosing with passengers, and pays fees to drivers.

Chris Bates, Uber’s general manager in Frankfurt, seemed unfazed by the ruling on Tuesday.

“We believe that competition is good for everyone — passengers as well as drivers benefit from increased competition,” he tweeted.