Apple fires employee who raised awareness of workplace misconduct allegations at the company

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sat Oct 23, 2021, 09:05 AM - Edit history (1)

Technology

Apple fires employee who raised awareness of workplace misconduct allegations at the company

Janneke Parrish believes she was fired in retaliation for criticizing working conditions at the company.

By Reed Albergotti
Yesterday at 3:45 p.m. EDT|Updated yesterday at 4:07 p.m. EDT

Apple fired an employee Thursday who was critical of the company’s handling of workplace misconduct allegations.

Janneke Parrish, a product manager on Apple Maps who is based in Texas, was involved in #AppleToo, a movement aimed at improving working conditions at the company, particularly for traditionally underrepresented groups. Parrish has been running the #AppleToo digest, a collection of anonymous stories from Apple employees who offered personal stories alleging discrimination and other labor violations at the company.

Parrish said in an interview with The Washington Post that she was under investigation by Apple’s global security division, which told her she was suspected of leaking details about Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Sept. 18 virtual Town Hall meeting, where he addressed allegations of workplace misconduct at the company in front of all employees.

[She pulled herself from addiction by learning to code. Now she’s leading a worker uprising at Apple]

Parrish denies leaking confidential information about the company. She alleges she was fired in retaliation for her involvement in #AppleToo.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. News of Parrish’s firing was first reported by The Verge.

Parrish’s firing came just hours after she was quoted in an article in The Post about Cher Scarlett, who helped found #AppleToo. In the article, Parrish expressed support for Scarlett, who is on medical leave from the company.

{snip}

By Reed Albergotti
Reed Albergotti is The Washington Post's consumer electronics reporter, taking readers inside powerful and secretive companies such as Apple and shedding light on the murky and global industry responsible for building the myriad devices that touch every aspect of our lives. He spent 12 years at the Wall Street Journal and four at the Information. Twitter https://twitter.com/reedalbergotti

Full disclosure: I own shares of AAPL.

The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA administers the Whistleblower Protection Program.

Whistleblower Laws Enforced by OSHA

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, tax, antitrust, and anti-money laundering laws and for engaging in other related protected activities.

Protection from Workplace Retaliation

An employer cannot take an adverse action against employees, such as: firing or laying off, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, or reducing pay or hours, for engaging in activities protected by OSHA’s whistleblower laws.

{snip}

I do not know the details of this incident.

[Midnight Writer]

1. One word: Union.