Ola, Wigdor LLP slam Uber for obtaining rape survivor's medical reports

Ola has termed the incident as an "attempt to trivialise a horrific crime" referring to the Dec 2014 incident in which a young woman was raped by an Uber driver in the national capital region.

In a response to a query by Economic Times, Ola said in a statement, "If this report were to be even remotely true, this is an all-time low on morality and a reflection of the very character of an organisation."

"It is a shame that the privacy and morals of a woman have to be questioned in an attempt to trivialise a horrific crime. It is despicable that anyone can even conceive an attempt to malign competition using this as an opportunity," the statement added.

Meanwhile, the law firm, Wigdor LLP,  who represented the victim in the law-suit against Uber, has said that it hopes for an apology from Travis Kalanick and Eric Alexander.

In a statement, Douglas H Wigdor, the founding partner of Wigdor LLP said, "It is incredible in this day and age that one could even fathom that a legitimate rape victim was part of a conspiracy by a rival firm to harm Uber."

"Sadly, these views, coupled with the scrutiny of private medical records, support rape culture and must end.  Given the media reports, it is our sincere hope that Messrs. Kalanick and Alexander will promptly be issuing an apology to our former client."

According to recode.net, the fired executive Eric Alexander, the president of business in the Asia Pacific, had then showed the medical records of the woman to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and SVP Emil Michael.

In addition, numerous executives at the car-hailing company were either told about the records or shown them by this group, the report said.

"Alexander’s handling of the delicate situation was among 215 claims reported to two law firms — Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling — doing deep investigations into both specific and widespread mismanagement issues at the company, including around allegations of pervasive sexism and sexual harassment at Uber," the report said.

The report said "as part of the Coie investigation, 20 employees were fired for a range of infractions, from sexual harassment to unprofessional behavior to retaliation. About 100 others are either still being investigated or saw some type of action — such as warnings or mandatory employee trainings."

The 26-year-old Delhi woman  was allegedly raped by an Uber driver in Dec 2014 during a ride in the capital. She had filed a lawsuit against the company, saying that Uber's "hollow" safety and driver screening practices was the cause for her unsafe situation."

The woman had said that despite the San Francisco-based company's claims that it maintained high safety standards, there was no practice of adequate screening of its drivers which puts at risk the safety of commuters.

She had filed a suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

A professional, the woman was returning home in the cab.

The accused allegedly preyed on her when she dozed off. Uber was banned in Delhi after the incident which led to the arrest of its driver Shiv Kumar Yadav.

However, it began operating in the capital later again. Police said Yadav had criminal records of committing crimes against women in the past.

In 2016, Yadav was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Presently, Uber has about 400,000 drivers in India, compared to 550,000 drivers who have registered with Ola.