Apple fires senior manager for alleged workplace sexism complaints
Apple fired senior engineering program manager Ashley Gjøvik after allegations of leaking confidential information concerning statements of sexual harassment, surveillance, and the company’s hostile workplace environment.
The Big Tech giant invited Gjøvik via email for a discussion at the company to address the nature of the allegations expressed by the senior engineer. However, when she demanded that the conversation be conducted via email, to have written affirmation of what will be said, Apple refused and replied that she had “chosen not to participate in the discussion.”
After that, Ashley Gjøvik was let go from her position at the company, effective tomorrow.
“When I began raising workplace safety concerns in March and nearly immediately faced retaliation and intimidation, I started preparing myself for something exactly like this to happen,” Gjøvik said in a statement.
“I am disappointed that a company I have loved since I was a little girl would treat their employees this way,” she added.
In August, Gjøvik filed a complaint to the U.S. National Labor Agency against the iOS maker regarding 13 potential violations of the National Labors Relations Act, under the pretense that she was being sexually harassed by a manager. Then, the company forced Gjøvik to accept a paid administrative leave until the matter gets resolved.
According to the former Apple engineer, the company asked her to lessen her authoritative tone during office presentations, to accept receiving complaints about her diversity training, including ones perceiving her as “too hard on the white man.”
While all this might appear heavy on the heart of an employee, Gjøvik also revealed in a tweet that the Big Tech titan stated that it was acceptable for a male director colleague to invite her for drinks, and discuss personal life matters with her.
As for Apple, the company did not refrain from speaking its mind on the matter.
“We are and always have been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace. We take all concerns seriously, and we thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised and, out of respect for the privacy of any individuals involved, we do not discuss specific employee matters,” Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock informed The Verge.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time an Apple employee submitted a complaint against the company’s work environment.
In early September, a security engineer at Apple, Cher Scarlett, filed a complaint on behalf of herself and her colleagues with over 500 stories of occurrences concerning discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.