Ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. can’t seem to stop driving deeper into the mud.

Just a month after getting hired as senior vice president of engineering at Uber, former longtime Google Inc. search executive Amit Singhal (pictured) has been let go from the ride-sharing company. Recode reported that the dismissal came after he failed to disclose upon application to Uber that he had been the focus of an internal investigation at Google for sexual harassment.

In a valedictory letter to Google employees, Singhal confessed his love and profound gratitude for Google and for the good the company was doing in this world. Singhal concluded by saying his next steps in life would be centered around philanthropy and spending more time with his wife.

According to Recode and other publications, the allegations of sexual harassment had been found “credible” at the time by Google’s team of investigators, although Singhal disputed them and later left the company of his own accord after working there for 15 years. According to reports, had he not have left, it was very likely he would have been asked to leave by Google.

In a statement to Recode, Singhal denied the allegations. “Harassment is unacceptable in any setting,” he said. “I certainly want everyone to know that I do not condone and have not committed such behavior. In my 20-year career, I’ve never been accused of anything like this before and the decision to leave Google was my own.”

Uber, currently involved in an ongoing investigation into claims made by a female employee of sexual harassment and sexism at the company, said it had done background checks on Singhal. In spite of this, it said it was not aware of the Google case. Uber asked Singhal to leave after receiving information from Recode about the investigation.

Perhaps Uber is earnestly attempting to clean-up its act, following attempts by the company to placate critics and #DeleteUber enthusiasts by assuring everyone it would no longer hire “brilliant jerks” and would “heal the wounds of the past.” But in reality, the company didn’t have much choice but to let Singhal, if for no other reason than if it did not and the allegations came out, it would deal a serious blow to Chief Executive Travis Kalanick’s insistence that he would fix the company’s issues.

Photo: Robert Hof