Mikey Campbell
An Apple employee who spoke out publicly about workplace issues and was recently fired for allegedly leaking confidential information has been given the green light by a civil rights enforcement agency to sue her now-former employer.
Ashely Gjovik confirmed Friday that she received approval from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and California's Department of Fair Employment & Housing to file a private lawsuit against Apple. It is unclear if the former engineering program manager will proceed on her claims.
According to documents seen by AppleInsider, Gjovik details a range of disturbing allegations, some of which have been chronicled on Twitter and her website.
For about four years, Gjovik claims she was subjected to sexism, harassment, bullying and retaliation from managers and colleagues. In March of 2021, the former Apple employee raised concerns about potential hazardous waste contamination at her office and filed a workers compensation claim, an action that allegedly prompted further retaliation from managers.
Attempts were made to rectify the situation through employee relations channels in April, but inquiries, including one supposedly ongoing investigation, were fruitless and potentially exacerbated matters.
Despite her objections, Gjovik was placed on administrative leave on Aug. 4.
Similar claims were lodged in a National Labor Relations Board complaint in late August. Gjovik was due to file an affidavit in that case today.
In a confusing series of events on Thursday, Apple accused Gjovik of leaking "confidential product-related information" and called for her immediate participation in an active investigation. She voiced readiness to cooperate in email correspondence with a member of Apple's Threat Assessment and Workplace Violence team on the condition that the conversation be conducted in writing, but the ER representative dismissed the offer and later referenced her decision "not to participate in the discussion."
Apple sent a notice of termination roughly two hours later. The company did not specify what intellectual property was illicitly disclosed.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development comes as Apple faces mounting criticism from employees who feel like the tech giant doesn't do enough to address allegations of harassment, sexism, racism, inequity and other workplace issues. Some of these claims are being exposed by a group called AppleToo, which last week penned an open letter calling for action from Apple CEO Tim Cook and senior management.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
43 Comments
Sue Apple’s army of Ivy League lawyers with what money? Is she going to represent herself with a T3 law degree. I’m afraid she will get steamrolled. The passive-aggressive profanity ridden vindictive Tweets will not win sympathy from a judge or juror. Just see how Twitter and Reddit has weighed in on her claims. Sometimes winning is learning when to walk away and starting new. Living a happy life (Success) is the best revenge. She lost a solid Apple salary, RSUs (~millions had they vested) and platinum healthcare benefits plus other perks- and for what to be a “badass” ?? A very costly delusion. Good luck to Ashley Gjøvik, she’s going to need it!
... drilling down on some of the article links may better help understand her concerns and zeitgeist ...
https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icloud-id
https://sfbayview.com/2021/03/i-thought-i-was-dying-my-apartment-was-built-on-toxic-waste/
As a very long time Apple customer I have had increasing questions about Apple's direction since 2011.
I am reminded of the 'Think Different' campaign that featured images of individuals such as the civil rights lawyer Gandhi...
I hope Apple countersues for every single cent to her name. She will then turn into a beggar since no company would be crazy to ever hire her again.
Apple is hypocritical. How they pretend to act in the public eye is very different from how they actually act. They appear to be concerned with customer privacy, yet, offer up user's private data to third party companies. They appear to be egalitarian while having no fairness or equality in the workplace.