Apple fired Ashley Gjvik, senior engineer program manager at the company, for allegedly violating its rules against leakage of confidential information. Gjvik has been openly tweeting for months about claims of harassment, surveillance and workplace safety.
After I raised workplace safety concerns in March and almost immediately faced intimidation and retaliation, I started to prepare myself for the worst. It is disappointing that a company I have known since childhood would treat its employees in this manner.
Gjvik raised concerns about her office being in an Apple building on a superfund site. This means that it needs special oversight because of historical waste contamination. Gjvik also claims that she was bullied and harassed by her manager and her colleagues. She has raised privacy concerns about Apple's policies regarding how it can monitor and search employees' work phones.
#Apple has photos of my boobs. Legal forced me to hand over all my texts during a discovery process 3 years ago. They wouldn't let me delete anything, not even "fully personal," even though I stated that I meant nudes by "fully personal". They claimed they were in their "permanent proof locker" Ashley M. Gjvik, @ashleygjovik August 19, 2021
In early August, she was placed on administrative leave while Apple investigated these concerns. This placement she claims she requested as a last resort.
Gjvik was contacted by an Apple employee relations representative earlier today. She said that the company was investigating a sensitive matter regarding intellectual property and would like to speak with her within one hour. Gjvik stated that she would prefer all communications to be in writing and pointed out she was forwarding correspondence to the NLRB where she filed a complaint. Gjvik replied that she chose not to take part in the discussion and they would proceed with the information they had. Given the severity of the allegations, they would suspend her access to Apple Systems.
Are there any bets that #Apple will knock on my door today? pic.twitter.com/oFqw4VFaGi Ashley M. Gjvik (@ashleygjovik) September 9, 2021
Gjvik was notified by email hours later that her employment at Apple was ending effective tomorrow.
Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock responded to The Verge's request for comment. He stated: "We are and have always been deeply dedicated to creating and maintaining positive and inclusive workplaces." All concerns are taken seriously. We thoroughly investigate any concern raised. However, because of the respect for privacy, we don't discuss individual employee matters.
