UPDATED 00:16 EDT / APRIL 12 2017

APPS

Uber loses another top exec, this time PR boss Rachel Whetstone

Uber Technologies Inc.’s senior vice president of global public policy and communications, Rachel Whetstone, is the latest in a long line of top executives to leave the ride-hailing giant.

Whetstone, who left Google Inc. to join Uber in 2015, said she was proud of the work she had done at Uber, but didn’t go into detail as to why she resigned. “I joined Uber because I love the product, and that love is as strong today as it was when I booked my very first ride six years ago,” Whetstone said.

Chief Executive Travis Kalanick (pictured) confirmed her departure in an email to staff, saying that he’d been “blown away” by the job she had done. “She is a force of nature, an extraordinary talent and an amazing player-coach who has built a first-class organization,” Kalanick wrote.

In spite of the mutual kind words, they reportedly had a difficult working relationship. According to The New York Times, which spoke to Uber employees under a condition of anonymity, Whetstone and Kalanick had often butted heads in a time of seemingly constant crises.

Whetstone follows a string of other executives who jumped ship during the stormy weather. Former President Jeff Jones left Uber in March, more pointedly saying that Uber’s internal problems were far worse than he had realized. Top engineering exec Brian McClendon left the same month, saying he wanted to pursue a career in politics.

Before that, Uber lost a handful of executives, including Amit Singhal, senior vice president of engineering, and Ed Baker, vice president of product and growth. Both Baker and Singhal were reportedly asked to resign — Singhal for not disclosing upon application to Uber that he had been investigated for sexual harassment and Baker reportedly for sexual misconduct.

Whetstone’s departure doesn’t look good for Uber, a company battling with allegations of sexism and sexual misconduct, but she noted that “a strong and brilliant woman will be taking my place.”

That would be Jill Hazelbaker, who joined Uber from Snapchat Inc. in 2015. Hazelbaker had previously worked as a public relations and internal communications boss for Google across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and before that she had been national communications director for Senator John McCain.

Image: Adam Tinworth via Flickr

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