Illnesses Rise At California Apple Facility Built On Superfund Site

Published by: Ring of Fire | Date: January 1 2022

Via America’s Lawyer: A former project manager turned whistleblower reveals the toxic work conditions at Apple’s Sunnyvale office, which sits atop a mound of industrial waste. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more...

Read more here.

Watch the video here.

Apple fires employee who spoke out on workplace issues, cites alleged leak

Published by: AppleInsider | Date: September 10 2021

Apple on Thursday fired Ashley Gjovik for violating company policy regarding the disclosure of intellectual property, but failed to specify what confidential information, if any, was leaked. The senior engineering program manager has for the past few months publicly aired concerns over unresolved workplace issues including sexism and discrimination.

Gjovik earlier today received an email from Apple's employee relations team saying that an investigation into a "sensitive intellectual property matter" was underway. The representative recommended that they speak within the hour, but Gjovik requested adherence to past stipulations that all communications be conducted in writing as the correspondence would be included in an active National Labor Relations Board complaint, according to emails viewed by AppleInsider....

Read more here.

OnLabor News & Commentary - Oct 13, 2021

Published by: OnLabor | Date: October 13 2021

On Tuesday, former Apple employee Ashley Gjovik filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that certain company policies and statements from management that restrict disclosure of internal company information violate federal labor laws. At issue are several provisions in Apple’s employee handbook that allegedly bar disclosing “business information,” speaking to reporters, revealing co-workers’ compensation, and using “vulgar” language on social media. Moreover, in an all-staff memo circulated last September, Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook doubled down on the company’s strict no-disclosure rules, going so far as to say that “we do not tolerate disclosures of confidential information, whether it’s product IP or the details of a confidential meeting.” Although Gjovik’s complaint would likely be unavailing under NLRB precedent set by the Board’s Trump-era Republican majority, her case now charts a path for President Biden’s NLRB appointees to displace such precedent in favor of a more prolabor standard....

Read more on OnLabor.

I Know A Good Apple Is Tart, But Exploitation Is Bitter

Published by: Above the Law | Date: December 21 2021

For many of us, apples represent not just knowledge, but a forbidden flavor of it that leads to ruin. Maybe the company did a bit of soothsaying when they chose it to represent them, considering that an employee, Ashley Gjovik, recently whistleblew about the company’s invasive surveillance practices and — get this — toxic work environment?

​Dear Lord, I miss the days when describing your work environment as toxic was a shorthand for nosy cubicle mates. If a major global company is able to get away with building their offices on a superfund site, in California of all places, what does that mean for the rest of us? And even if the co-workers are pleasant and the Apple headquarters frequently restocks on their K-Cups, I doubt that their insurance coverage would make up for having a 9-5 atop pollutants....

Read more on Above the Law.

Apple Executives Violated Worker Rights, Labor Officials Say

Published by Bloomberg | Date: January 30 2023

Comments by Apple Inc. executives and policies imposed on employees have been deemed illegal by US National Labor Relations Board prosecutors, who say they violate workers’ rights.

The NLRB general counsel’s office has determined that “various work rules, handbook rules, and confidentiality rules” imposed by the tech giant “tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees” from exercising their rights to collective action, spokesperson Kayla Blado said Monday. 

In addition, she said, the agency “found merit to a charge alleging statements and conduct by Apple — including high-level executives — also violated the National Labor Relations Act.” Unless Apple settles, the board’s regional director will issue a complaint against the Cupertino, California-based company, Blado said in an email...
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Read more on Bloomberg. 

Quotation of the Day: Virus Surge Complicates Return-to-Office Plans

Published by: The New York Times | Date: July 24 2021

“OK, you want me to put my life on the line to come back to the office, which will also decrease my productivity, and you’re not giving me any logic on why I actually need to do that?”

ASHLEY GJOVIK, a senior engineering program manager at Apple, who was one of many employees to push back against an earlier plan to return to the office in September. Many companies are reconsidering their return dates after objections from employees and concerns about the surging Delta variant....

Read more on New York Times.

Apple Fires Program Manager Who Accused Bosses of Harassment, Intimidation

Published by: Gizmodo | Date: September 10 2021

Not two weeks ago, Ashley Gjøvik filed a complaint with the U.S. labor board charging her employer, Apple, with unlawful retaliation. She’d become too vocal, she said, about her experiences with sexism and concerns about safety in the workplace. The company wanted her stopped.

On Thursday, she was fired....

​Read more on Gizmodo. 

Former Apple Employee Alleges Workplace Violations and Wrongful Termination

Published by Justia | Date: September 20 2021

Multiple federal agencies are investigating complaints by a former Apple employee. The tech giant recently fired senior manager Ashley Gjovik after she reported alleged workplace issues at Apple. Since the spring, Gjovik had spoken out about perceived patterns of harassment, bullying, sexism, and retaliation. She reported these concerns to authorities within the company, while also publicly tweeting about them. Some of her tweets contained emails and other media, which may have frustrated her employer, although she redacted certain information....

Read more on Justia. 

U.S. labor agency probes two complaints from Apple workers

Published by: Reuters | Date: September 3 2021

A U.S. national labor agency is investigating two charges against tech giant Apple Inc (AAPL.O) filed by employees, records on its website show, amid a wave of worker activism at a company known for its secretive culture.

The charges, filed on Aug. 26 and Sept. 1, are being reviewed by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board's office in Oakland, California. The agency declined to comment...

​Read more on Reuters. 

Former Apple employee alleges a Tim Cook email saying leakers 'do not belong' at the company violates worker-protection laws

Published By: Business Insider | Date: October 12 2021

Last month, Ashley Gjovik was fired from her senior program manager position at Apple. Now, she's just completed midterms during her final year of law school. 

As she studied for her labor law exam, Gjovik told Insider that she noticed the "unlawful examples" mentioned in her textbook were "nearly identical to terms in Apple's employee policies."

Gjovik said that led her to file complaints with the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday in which she alleges that Apple's anti-leaking stance and strict employee handbook violates US labor laws.....

Read more on Business Insider.