The women calling out Apple’s handling of misconduct claims

A male colleague took advantage of Megan after a night out drinking with her.

She fell asleep after the colleague drove her home and helped her inside. A colleague had taken her clothes off. He was smiling as he snapped photos.

When another colleague broke into her account and harassed her, she filed a police report. She didn't bother because HR didn't help in any way. She knew she wouldn't have her best interests in mind.

The decision to tell Apple of the illegal photos incident was made in the fall of last year. She didn't call for an investigation because she had no proof. She asked that they not be put in the same department because she thought they should be aware of the person's character.

The email exchange seen by the Financial Times turned defensive and rigid after the request was made. The HR representative didn't have much experience dealing with sexual harassment. He explained how Apple couldn't really get involved in her case.

He hasn't violated any policy in the context of his Apple work despite what he did being reprehensible. He hasn't violated any policy, so we won't prevent him from looking for employment that meshes with his interests.

She couldn't prove her claims so she wasn't asking for punishment. She was surprised by the suggestion that proof wouldn't matter.

HR said that it was likely that an Apple investigation would return no findings and no discipline would be issued. If the person taking the images admitted to it.

An HR professional with 25 years of experience, who did not want to be named, called this response shocking and said that behaviors like that don't come out of nowhere.

In January, Mohr quit her job as a fraud prevention specialist at Apple because she was dissatisfied with its culture and opportunities for women. She wants Apple to take a closer look at its policies. She wants Apple to be the company it's made up to be.

A matter of priorities

In interviews with 15 female Apple employees, both current and former, the Financial Times discovered that the frustrating experience with the People group has echoes across at least seven Apple departments.

The women talked about Apple's apathy in the face of accusations of sexual harassment. Eight of them said they were retaliated against, while seven said HR was disappointing or counter productive.

The story is based on interviews and discussions with other employees, internal emails from Apple's People team, and anonymous employee reviews.