On June 13, 2017, it was announced that Kalanick would take an indefinite leave of absence from Uber. His responsibilities would be assumed by his direct reports in the organization.
On June 20, 2017, Kalanick resigned as CEO after 5 major investors, including Benchmark Capital, reportedly demanded his resignation. Despite his resignation, Kalanick was to retain his seat on Uber's board of directors. Dara Khosrowshahi took his position of CEO in August 2017.
In 2017, it was reported that Kalanick had knowledge of sexual harassment allegations at Uber and did nothing. In the same week, he asked his direct report, Uber's SVP of Engineering Amit Singhal, to resign after a month for failing to disclose a sexual harassment claim during Singhal's 15 years as VP of Google Search, after Recode reported about it in media. According to Reuters, Kalanick has "a reputation as an abrasive leader".
In February 2017, a video was released where Kalanick was shimmying between two women in an UberBLACK, before arguing with an Uber driver during a heated debate in which he berated the driver.
In March 2017, Uber VP of Business, Emil Michael contacted Kalanick's ex-girlfriend in an attempt to silence her into hiding an HR complaint. This backfired, with her speaking to The Information as a source present during an executive team outing with Kalanick, where Michael and four more Uber managers selected numbered women at a Korean escort bar, prompting a complaint one year later, by the female manager who attended. She also has since spoken to Businessweek about Uber's India rape case.
On June 21, 2017, he stepped down as the CEO of Uber.
On August 10, 2017, Axios reported that Benchmark was suing Kalanick for "fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty." The suit is based on Uber's decision to expand the number of board seats, with Benchmark arguing the decision is invalid due to withholding of material information prior to the vote. The lawsuit was very controversial in Silicon Valley because of the relationship between the founder and the investor. The court ruled in the favor of Kalanick to move the case to arbitration on August 30. In response to the court ruling Kalanick released a public statement: