Uber investor sues Travis Kalanick for fraud, breach of contract and fiduciary duty

Trouble for Travis Kalanick, Co-founder and former CEO at Uber, is going to further increase as one of the investors has decided to sue him over fraud and other transgressions, to remove him from Uber’s board.

Benchmark Venture Capital firm, which is one of Uber’s largest shareholders, has filed a lawsuit against Kalanick in Delaware Chancery Court, accusing the former chief executive of fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

In the suit, Benchmark has accused Kalanick of obtaining outsize control of several Uber board seats in 2016, and that through “material misstatements and fraudulent concealment” of information.

"Kalanick’s overarching objective is to pack Uber’s board with loyal allies in an effort to insulate his prior conduct from scrutiny and clear the path for his eventual return as CEO — all to the detriment of Uber’s stockholders, employees, driver-partners, and customers," the suit said.

A representative of Kalanick defended him and said, "The lawsuit is completely without merit and riddled with lies and false allegations. Benchmark was acting in its own best interests instead of those of Uber. Kalanick is confident that these entirely baseless claims will be rejected."

The move signalled a new level of power politicking over the fate of Uber. After Kalanick resigned from CEO’s position in Uber Technologies, there has been a series of controversy surrounding him over various issues.

A few days ago, in an email memo, which was leaked to Recode and Quartz, Garrett Camp, Co-founder and Director of Uber said, “Despite rumours I’m sure you’ve seen in the news, Travis is not returning as CEO.”

This year the ride-hailing app was surrounded by series of allegations including seeking report of an Indian rape victim by a top official. After the incident, Uber saw string of departure including the head of business Emil Micheal and President Jeff Jones.

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