So, what exactly does Benchmark hope to achieve by suing Uber’s former CEO?
Benchmark’s lawsuit has one major goal: Get Travis Kalanick off Uber’s board
The Uber investor wants to show the co-founder the window, oops, door.
Spencer Platt / Getty
Here’s the recourse they’re seeking in the lawsuit filed today:
- Reverse the decision that allowed Travis Kalanick to expand the board: The 2016 vote creating three additional seats should be considered “invalid” and these seats “do not exist.”
- Prevent Kalanick from assuming one of those seats: If there’s no extra, vacant seats, Benchmark argues, than Kalanick can’t appoint himself to one of them after he was ousted as CEO this summer.
- Limit Kalanick’s meddling: Benchmark asks that Kalanick be disallowed from proceeding to “take any actions that would have the effect of disrupting the continuing management of the business and affairs of Uber.” For instance, Benchmark wants the court to prevent Kalanick from participating in Uber board meetings or choosing his own replacement for a board seat (the board seat Benchmark contends does not exist).
Kalanick, naturally, disputes all the allegations in the new lawsuit filed by his investors.
“Benchmark’s lawsuit is a transparent attempt to deprive Travis Kalanick of his rights as a founder and shareholder and to silence his voice regarding the management of the company he helped create,” a Kalanick spokesman said earlier today.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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