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Uber CEO's Right-Hand Man Emil Michael Is Leaving the Company

Uber's chief business officer, Emil Michael, is leaving the company.
Image: The logo of the ride sharing service Uber is seen in front of its headquarters
The logo of the ride sharing service Uber is seen in front of its headquarters on Aug. 26, 2016 in San Francisco.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images, file

Uber's chief business officer, Emil Michael, is leaving the company one day before the results of an investigation into the company's workplace culture are set to be made public.

Michael's departure was confirmed to NBC News by Uber spokesman Matt Kallman. It comes one day after Uber's board met for six hours in Los Angeles, where they unanimously voted to accept the recommendations resulting from former attorney general Eric Holder's harassment investigation.

Those recommendations won't be made public Tuesday at 10 am PT during an all-hands meeting with employees at Uber's San Francisco headquarters.

Michael is the most high-profile executive to leave Uber as the company grapples with the findings of two reports into its workplace culture, including allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.

It was unclear if Michael was fired or chose to resign. As a senior vice president at Uber, he has been no stranger to controversy.

In 2014, he suggested building a team to dig up dirt on critical journalists - a remark for which he later apologized. Michael was also reportedly part of a group that went to an escort bar during a business trip in South Korea. The visit prompted an HR complaint, according to The Information.

Citing unnamed sources, Reuters and The New York Times separately reported that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick may take a leave of absence as a result of the meeting on Sunday and Holder's report.

Uber also announced a new member of its board of directors on Monday, bringing on Wan Lin Martello. The Nestle executive is the second female board member, after Arianna Huffington.

The dual investigations were commissioned in February after Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, published a blog post titled, "Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber."

Law firm Perkins Coie got to work shortly after the blog post, focusing on individual workplace claims.

Holder's report is said to focus on the company's culture and structure, making recommendations at a macro level.

Related: Uber’s Board Accepts Holder Recommendations, Discusses CEO’s Future

The Perkins Coie report resulted in 20 people being fired as of June 6th. Two employees were to be given additional training, and five more were issued final warnings.

Uber executive Eric Alexander was fired last week after reporters pressed the company about reports he had carried around confidential records of a woman who was raped during an Uber ride in India. His case was said to have been one of the 215 claims investigated by Perkins Coie but did not yield action until several outlets raised the issue.