An Uber driver trying to deliver a petition to the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Friday was tackled to the ground by a security guard. The incident was then captured on video, spreading across the internet and drawing attention to the controversial situation.
When Thom Hoffman attempted to enter the building at 1455 Market St., which had a half-dozen protesters holding signs and demonstrating outside of it, a security guard in a black hoodie grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the ground.
Around 15 Uber drivers, which were part of a coalition of labor groups called Gig Workers Rising, were present on Friday. The petition being delivered was signed by over 3,200 people and essentially asked for a sit-down meeting with Uber executives wherein Gig Worker Rising members wanted to discuss the ridesharing company’s deactivation and rating policies.
Uber’s director of physical security Carla Gray issued a statement to BuzzFeed News, explaining the guard in question works for a third-party contractor and has been placed on administrative leave while “the matter is being investigated.” The third-party contractor used by Uber is a security firm called Securitas.
“We are very concerned by the video,” she said. “Our security policy is to ensure the safety of those in and around our facilities, and we will not tolerate any actions that are not in line with that policy.”
Uber’s San Francisco headquarters is owned by Hudson Pacific Properties. A spokesperson for the company said that while they were aware that a protest against Uber was planned, they were unaware of the security guard altercation.
Hoffman told BuzzFeed News that his shoulder and hip have been in pain ever since Friday’s violent incident and that he intends on getting professionally examined at a hospital. Additionally, he’s thinking about pressing charges.
“We weren’t being aggressive or hostile,” he explained. “I feel like that action was uncalled for. We just wanted to come in and hand a petition and go away. We only wanted to walk into the lobby and go to the front desk and say, ‘Can you deliver this to the appropriate person?’”
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this story, as it’s still developing and could potentially evolve into legal action against Securitas, Uber, or Hudson Pacific Properties on behalf of Thom Hoffman or Gig Workers Rising. Stay tuned.