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Lyft tells employees not to 'gloat' over Uber crises

Lyft tells employees not to 'gloat' over Uber crises
Posted at 11:15 AM, Jun 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-22 13:15:46-04

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The wheels may be coming off Uber, but Lyft is telling its employees not to rubberneck.

Lyft's two founders sent an email to staff last week telling them not to "gloat" over Uber's recent crises. The memo comes just days after the rival shook up its leadership team and revealed recommendations from a months-long investigation into its office culture.

"This isn't a time to gloat," Logan Green and John Zimmer wrote in the staff email. Its contents were confirmed to CNN Tech by a Lyft spokesperson.

"The faults of our competition don't do anything to deliver a better experience for our customers," the email said.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the staff memo.

Uber has struggled with a series of scandals and PR crises this year. It has come under fire for sexual harassment, building a tool to flout regulators and its handling of a rape victim's medical records.

This week, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigned from the company. A number of other top executives and employees have also left or been pushed out.

All of that has created an opportunity for Lyft, a startup positioned as the friendlier alternative to the Uber. Lyft raised $600 million in funding this year amid Uber's crises and saw an uptick in new passenger signups after an Uber customer boycott.

"Lyft was doing well before Uber shot itself in the foot," Michael Moe, a Lyft investor, told CNNTech in an interview in April. "But certainly those issues at Uber... have created an acceleration to Lyft's business."

While Lyft may be telling its employees not to rejoice over Uber's stumbles, the company has taken some subtle jabs.

In a March interview with Time, Green described Lyft as "woke" and "a better boyfriend" than Uber. After Uber finally rolled out tipping this week, Lyft was quick to note it has had the option for nearly "1800 days."