The 15 current and former employees of the Silicon Valley
giant reported either being retaliated against or getting a disappointing or
counterproductive response from the company.
Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment,
but told the newspaper it works hard to investigate misconduct complaints and
added it would make changes to its training processes.
Sexual harassment or discrimination scandals have rocked
Silicon Valley in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which spurred action over
the tech industry's male-dominated culture, attitudes and behaviour.
One of the women cited in the story, Megan Mohr, was
inspired by #metoo to report to Apple in 2018 that a male colleague had removed
her shirt and bra and photographed her after a night out drinking together
while Mohr briefly fell asleep.
After speaking with human resources about her claim, the
company noted the worker's conduct was potentially criminal but didn't violate
any policy in the context of his work at Apple, the story reported.
She quit her job in January, after 14 years at the firm, and
is now asking the company to take a hard look at its policies, the report went
on to say.
The women interviewed for the story make up a fraction of
the some 165,000 people the firm employs globally.
Another woman cited in the story, Jayna Whitt, penned a blog
post in which she said a romantic relationship with a fellow Apple attorney had
gone bad and become dangerous.
She said the man was unstable, physically violent and
emotionally abusive, but when Whitt told Apple, the firm advised her to call
the police if she felt unsafe.
Her complaint to the company about the man's behaviour
eventually resulted in her being reprimanded for allowing a personal
relationship to interfere with her work, Whitt's blog post says.
Apple is not the only big tech firm to face accusations
about abuse or handling of misconduct claims, game studio Activision Blizzard
and Elon Musk's Tesla have both been roiled by lawsuits.
Six women sued Tesla in December, alleging a culture of
sexual harassment at the electric carmaker's California plant and other
facilities that included unwanted touching, catcalls and retaliation for those
who complained.
0 comments:
Post a Comment