The Financial Times has released a shocking report alleging widespread mishandling of misconduct allegations at Apple, with company HR also accused of retaliating against the females who brought the complaints.
FT cites 15 different women, both current and former employees, across seven Apple departments spanning six US states, who claim their allegations went unheard at Apple.
Megan Mohr (below) told Apple HR that a male colleague took advantage of her after a night out drinking in 2013. He dropped her home, and helped her inside. “She briefly fell asleep before waking to the sound of clicking. The colleague had removed her shirt and bra. He was snapping photos, and grinning,” the FT writes.
Apple HR sent the following written response to Mohr.
“Although what he did was reprehensible as a person and potentially criminal, as an Apple employee he hasn’t violated any policy in the context of his Apple work,” HR wrote.
“And because he hasn’t violated any policy we will not prevent him seeking employment opportunities that are aligned with his goals and interests.
“Unfortunately the incident wasn’t in the context of Apple work [so] it’s very likely that an Apple investigation would have returned ‘no findings’ and no discipline would be issued. Even if the offender would have admitted to taking the images.”
Mohr left the company, telling the Financial Times: “I just want Apple to be the company it pretends to be for its customers.”
Apple responded to the Times story by saying they want the company to be “an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting any issues” but acknowledge the disconnect.
“There are some accounts raised that do not reflect our intentions or our policies and we should have handled them differently, including certain exchanges reported in this story,” Apple said.
“As a result, we will make changes to our training and processes.” It declined to comment on specific cases “out of respect for the privacy of individuals involved.”
