A report released today cites 15 different women that are accusing Apple’s Human Relations department of mishandling serious misconduct allegations. More than half of the women say Apple retaliated against them for logging the complaints.
One woman reported a sexual assault committed outside of work hours and premises. While situations like this that occur offsite are tricky for companies to handle, the woman says a human resources manager was said to have been dismissive about the charges, likening the attack to “a minor traffic accident.”
The Financial Times reports a woman was partially undressed by a colleague while she was asleep.
Megan Mohr was five years into her Apple career when, in 2013, a male colleague took advantage of her after a platonic night out drinking together.
After the colleague drove 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.
Mohr said that she didn’t bother to report the incident at the time, as she’d had a previous poor experience with Apple HR. However, Mohr later felt empowered to do so by the #MeToo movement. However, she was told that Apple wouldn’t have acted at the time, as he hadn’t violated any policy in the context of his Apple work.
She had no evidence and wasn’t calling for an investigation. She just thought HR should be aware of the person’s character and requested they never be put in the same department.
Mohr thought this was a modest ask, but the email exchange seen by the Financial Times soon turned rigid and defensive. The HR representative displayed little empathy or experience dealing with sexual misconduct. He analogised her experience to “a minor traffic accident” to explain how Apple couldn’t really get involved.
“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 has since left the company and says that she simply wants Apple to live up to its claimed values.
FT says it interviewed 15 female Apple employees, both current and former, across at least seven Apple departments in six US states. The women said they faced apathy from Apple when misconduct claims were made. Eight women say they were retaliated against, while the other seven say the response from HR was disappointing.
Apple has acknowledged that work is required to address the failings reported.
“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.”
(Via 9to5Mac)