Susan Fowler’s Uber harassment story is being made into a movie
Earlier this year, Susan Fowler wrote a blog post describing her sexual harassment at Uber and revealed disturbing details about the company’s sexist environment. That post would lead to an independent investigation of Uber’s practices, the firing of over 20 employees and, eventually, to former CEO Travis Kalanick’s resignation. For many women in Silicon Valley, Fowler’s blog post was the shot heard around the world; a catalyst for change in a toxic culture. And now, Fowler’s story will be a movie.
That tidbit was first revealed in a New York Times profile on Fowler this past weekend, but Deadline Hollywood has more details on the film. The production company that landed the story is called Good Universe, and Fowler is said to be involved in the making of the movie. The movie’s screenwriter is said to be Allison Schroeder, who’s also responsible for writing the script for Hidden Figures. Producer Kristin Burr told Deadline that the movie is described as something like Erin Brockovich meets The Social Network.
In her story, Fowler wrote about how she was approached by a manager about an open relationship with his girlfriend, and how he was really looking for women to have sex with. She then took this highly inappropriate encounter to HR, but was then told that nothing would be done because he was a “high performer.” It turns out he was also propositioning other co-workers. She also wrote about how female employees were repeatedly undervalued.
The movie deal was signed amidst a current climate where Hollywood is also taking a hard look at its own sexism. Executive Harvey Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment and rape, as well as Amazon’s former VP of film and TV Roy Price. Both have now lost their jobs. There continues to be stories of allegations of abuse and harassment across all industries, as highlighted by the #MeToo hashtag.
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