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Wikipedia

Ashley Gjøvik

December 18, 2023

Ashley Gjøvik (born 1985 or 1986) is an American program manager and activist who is known for her whistleblowing and labor complaints against Apple Inc. After she raised issues with the alleged mishandling of environmental concerns, employee privacy, harassment, and discrimination at Apple in 2021, she was terminated by the company for allegedly leaking confidential intellectual property, which Gjøvik denies, alleging her firing was retaliation for speaking out against the company.

Ashley Gjøvik
Born1985 or 1986 (age 37–38)[1]
EducationPortland State University (BS)
OccupationProgram manager
Known forWhistleblowing at Apple Inc.

Gjøvik filed numerous complaints against Apple across the United States and Europe during 2021 and 2022, which as of December 2021 and April 2022, were being investigated by the respective parties for merit. In January 2023, the US NLRB ruled that Apple's confidentiality rules violate workers' rights to speak with the media and each other regarding pay and working conditions, but did not yet rule on allegations regarding her dismissal.

Education and career

Gjøvik completed a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies from Portland State University in 2012, and earned a Project Management Professional certification in 2013.[2][3]

Following working for Nike, Inc.,[4] Gjøvik began working at Apple in 2015, and remained there until September 2021, by which time she had become a senior engineering program manager working out of their Sunnyvale, California, office.[5][6] While working at Apple, Gjøvik also studied transitional justice at University of Oxford and began a Juris Doctor degree at Santa Clara University law school.[7][1][4] She also worked with a law group that helps asylum seekers, and has published writing about public health, privacy, and human rights.[1]

Apple complaints

See also: Criticism of Apple Inc.

After raising concerns internally with Apple, Gjøvik began speaking openly on Twitter and to press. Her allegations against Apple include mishandling of environmental concerns, violations of employee privacy, harassment, and retaliation. Her allegations were under investigation as of December 2021.[8][9] Gjøvik said she made $386,000 in 2021 prior to her termination, and is asking for reinstatement if the agencies find that Apple fired her unlawfully.[4]

Environmental health and safety concerns

See also: List of Superfund sites in California and TRW Microwave Superfund

In 2020, Gjøvik raised concerns about the safety of her Santa Clara, California, apartment complex. She wrote an essay for the San Francisco Bay View describing a debilitating mystery illness that felt terminal, which she attributed to exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ground through a process called "vapor intrusion" into the building. She said the symptoms started right after she moved in, and stopped immediately after moving out.[10][11]

On March 17, 2021, Gjøvik received an email from Apple's environmental health and safety team notifying staff of forthcoming vapor intrusion testing at the Sunnyvale office building, which she said sent off "alarm bells" due to her health issues at the apartment building.[10] She asked the team what type of testing had been done in the previous six years, and says she was told not to discuss her concerns with other employees and was subsequently harassed and humiliated.[10][7][9][12] Gjøvik said she had fainted at work and did not know why, and that this had contributed to her concerns that Apple had not properly tested the site for contaminants. She also believed Apple had not sufficiently informed employees of the possible health issue from "chemical exposure". She says she was told there was no legal requirement.[13][14]

The building, Stewart 1, leased by Apple in 2015,[15] is located on a Superfund site managed by Northrop Grumman called TRW Microwave, where toxic waste had been previously disposed of and leaked into the soil.[16][17] The main compound of concern is trichloroethylene (TCE), a known carcinogen.[18] During the 1980s and through 2008, the area was one of many in Silicon Valley to undergo a massive cleanup project.[19][20] In 1994, a public health study concluded that groundwater was contaminated, which can lead to vapor intrusion.[21][22] The EPA says the site has institutional controls to protect people from contact with affected water. Drinking water in the area comes from Hetch Hetchy and municipal wells.[23] In 2014, following a failed vapor intrusion test, the EPA implemented new notification requirements to quickly mitigate unacceptable levels.[24][1][25] Indoor air sampling confirmed the effectiveness of the remedies, before the site was occupied.[26] A study in 2019 determined the issues had been addressed, but in 2021, employees were exposed to carcinogenic fumes through cracks in the floor.[27][28][4][16]

Gjøvik ultimately filed complaints with the EPA[1] and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).[16] She also filed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) whistleblower complaint with the United States Department of Labor (DOL).[29][30] As of December 2021, OSHA was investigating the retaliation complaint.[29]

Gjøvik said that when she asked Apple's employee relations team what options there were for her health-related concerns prior to the company-mandated return-to-office plans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the representative suggested she file an Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) accommodations request to continue working remotely. She said she had "serious concerns about [the] workplace safety of my building and Apple's other buildings on chemical release sites", but filed the request because it was the only option she was given. She said she was given a medical release form to fill out to allow Apple to access her medical records. Gjøvik said she refused to fill it out unless only Sedgwick, the claims processor, was given access to her medical records. Gjøvik never received the accommodation.[31]

Employee privacy concerns

Gjøvik has spoken publicly about privacy concerns as an Apple employee. In 2018, Gjøvik's engineering team was involved in a lawsuit, and because she had worked on a project that was relevant to the lawsuit, lawyers requested files from her phone and computer and told her not to delete any files. Gjøvik said her team had recommended against keeping separate phones for her personal and professional use, a practice that other Apple employees also said was commonplace.[1][8] Gjøvik had personal documents on the phone, including nude photographs, and when she asked if she could delete the photographs, she said the lawyers said no.[8]

"Glimmer", formerly known as "Gobbler", was an internal tool that was created to test Apple's Face ID software before its 2017 launch. The app took photos and brief videos when it sensed a face.[8] Gjøvik described the app as "spyware", saying, "It was taking photos of me in my home, in my bathroom, in bed, anywhere I had my phone ... And it stored these photos somewhere and uploads them sometimes to some place—[Apple] didn't tell us much". Gjøvik had signed an informed consent form before the app was installed, though Gjøvik and other Apple staff have alleged that agreeing to help test software like Glimmer on company-owned devices was expected of them, with Gjøvik referring to the practice as a "loyalty test". Uploads containing photos or other sensitive data was done manually by employees. Some non-sensitive data was uploaded automatically unless employees turned it off.[1][8]

Gjøvik spoke to press about her concerns pertaining to data privacy with an internal bug tracking tool called "Radar", which stores reports indefinitely and has broad defaults for employee access. Apple instructs its employees not to upload sensitive, confidential, or private data to work tools like Radar. Gjøvik filed a bug report in 2019 about Apple's photo search software returning "a selfie I took of myself in bed after laparoscopic surgery to treat my endometriosis" when she entered the search term "infant".[8] The report could not be subsequently removed, and the default sharing settings allowed Apple's entire software engineering team to view the details of the report.[8]

In September 2021, Gjøvik criticized Apple's employee privacy policy, which she says states that workers have no expectation of privacy when using a personal device for Apple business. She says the implication of possible employee surveillance under the policies led her to walk around her apartment and unplug all of her electronics and remove all of her personal information off of Apple's servers.[32]

In April 2022, she brought her complaints to the United Kingdom, lodging a complaint with the Data Protection Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). She also brought the complaint to ICO's counterpart in Brussels, the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland, and the non-profit privacy protection organization Big Brother Watch. The ICO said they are assessing the concerns, which allege unlawful data collection and invasion of employee privacy, raised by Gjøvik.[33]

Harassment and discrimination

See also: AppleToo

Gjøvik has alleged that Apple pressured her into revealing details of sexual harassment she had experienced after she mentioned the incident in an unrelated meeting with a member of Apple's human resources department. She said that Apple took no action related to her report except to reveal her to the employee she had accused.[1] Gjøvik also complained to Apple about sex discrimination from a male manager, and Apple closed an investigation into the incident finding no wrongdoing. Following the closure of the investigation, she wrote on Twitter about the experience on August 2, 2021, "Wanted to share: #Apple employee relations confirmed this #tonepolicing is totally ok feedback for me to get from my #bigtech #male leaders & not #sexist. As this investigation rolls on, I've decided to start Tweeting the stuff they say is 'ok.' I mean, they did say it was ok?" In the tweet, she attached a screenshot of feedback from a manager who wrote that he "didn't hear you going up an octave at the end of your statements" and that she "came across as much more authoritative".[34][6] Apple opened a second investigation into the allegations in August 2021, and she was placed on paid administrative leave.[34] Apple has said they "don't discuss any individual employee matters, out of respect for the privacy of the people involved", and "are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace," and they "take all concerns seriously" and "thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised."[35]

Administrative leave and firing

Gjøvik alleges that after raising concerns internally and speaking publicly about her concerns with Apple, she was retaliated against repeatedly, and was reassigned.[9] On August 4, 2021, Apple placed her on indefinite paid administrative leave for the duration of the investigation, which she said she requested as a "last resort", and which she later described as "forced" and as a "suspension" in her complaint filed with OSHA.[34][6][36][37] Gjøvik subsequently filed additional various complaints about Apple with the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the United States Department of Justice.[38] Both the DFEH and EEOC issued Gjøvik right to sue letters, which enable her to file discrimination lawsuits at the state or federal level.[39][35]

On August 26, 2021, Gjøvik filed a charge with the NLRB, alleging retaliation as well as harassment by a manager and forced administrative leave.[40] In October 2021, Gjøvik filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about alleged false statements by Apple to the SEC, pertaining to Apple's no-action letter filed earlier that month stating that their "policy is not to use [concealment] clauses".[41] Cher Scarlett also filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC about the no-action letter, providing the agency with a post-employment contract she was offered earlier that month.[42] The no-action filing was subsequently denied by the SEC.[41]

On September 9, 2021, a member of Apple's human resources team contacted her, asking to speak about "a sensitive Intellectual Property matter". Gjøvik replied that she would speak to them, but that the conversation would need to be captured in writing, and she would forward it to the NLRB.[1][6] Apple replied, "Since you have chosen not to participate in the discussion ... we will move forward with the information that we have" and suspended her employee access. She was formally fired in a third email later that day which stated she had "engaged in conduct that warrants termination of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of Apple policies". The violations claimed by Apple were that she had "disclosed confidential product-related information in violation of Apple policies" and that she had "failed to cooperate and to provide accurate and complete information during the Apple investigatory process".[1][6] Gjøvik has denied these allegations, referring to the termination as retaliation for speaking out and filing complaints about the company with multiple agencies. She later filed additional charges with the NLRB and the United States Department of Labor for retaliation, which are being investigated by the respective parties.[36][43][44]

Gjøvik had previously posted on Twitter a photograph of herself that had been taken by Glimmer, and screenshots of an email that asked her to volunteer to have her ears 3D-scanned to aid in AirPods development. On September 15, 2021, she was asked to remove the two tweets in an email from the O'Melveny & Myers law firm, on behalf of Apple. The email claimed the tweets were violating a confidentiality agreement she had signed when she first joined the company. Gjøvik complied with the request to remove the tweets, though in communications via a lawyer to Apple she argued that the material she had shared was not labeled confidential and did not contain anything secret or proprietary, and that the photograph of her could not reasonably be argued to be copyrighted by Apple.[1]

Following her termination and subsequent retaliation charges, Gjøvik filed an additional charge with the NLRB against Apple in October 2021 following news of a company-wide memo from Tim Cook sent to employees on September 21, 2021.[45] The memo was criticized for conflating product leaks with employee activism around workplace conditions, and for including the line, "people who leak confidential information do not belong here," which some interpreted as threatening.[46] Gjøvik alleged that the memo violated the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 in her charge, and additionally challenged several policies in the employee handbook that she said illegally inhibit staff from exercising their federally-protected rights to talk to the press, discuss wages, and post on social media. She, and some other legal professionals, believe that this particular charge, if prosecuted, could overturn a "Trump Era" precedent governing workplace policies involving Boeing from December 2017, which weigh employee rights against legitimate business interests.[47][48] She also said she hopes to disrupt the company's culture of secrecy.[45]

On January 30, 2022, the NLRB found that “various work rules, handbook rules, and confidentiality rules” imposed by Apple and its executives “tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees” from exercising their legal rights to collective action and to speak with the media.[49][50][51] The NLRB has not yet ruled in response to Gjøvik's individual charges.[50]

See also

References

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  18. ^ Cameron, Dell (October 15, 2021). "Apple Wanted Her Fired. It Settled On an Absurd Excuse". Gizmodo. Retrieved January 31, 2023. One of the more dangerous compounds was trichloroethylene, better known as TCE...Today, it's a known carcinogen associated with childhood leukemia and low birth weight, and other birth defects.
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  49. ^ Eidelson, Josh (January 30, 2023). "Apple Executives Violated Worker Rights, US Labor Officials Say". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 31, 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...The dispute was brought to the agency by former employee Ashley Gjovik, who filed claims in 2021 alleging that an email Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook sent pledging to punish leakers, as well as a set of policies in Apple's employee handbook, violated federal law.
  50. ^ a b Silberling, Amanda (January 31, 2023). "Labor officials found that Apple execs infringed on workers' rights". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 31, 2023. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found merit to complaints that high-level executives at Apple violated national labor law. ... The NLRB has not yet made a decision regarding Gjøvik's complaints that she was illegally fired in retaliation for speaking out about work conditions.
  51. ^ Mickle, Tripp (January 31, 2023). "Regulators Find Apple's Secrecy Violates Workers' Rights - After a yearlong investigation, a federal labor board determined that the tech giant's rules interfere with employees' right to organize". The New York Times. The labor board responded to five charges brought in late 2021 by two former Apple employees, Ashley Gjovik, an engineering program manager at Apple for six years, and Cher Scarlett, an engineer on the company's security team. ... Activists in the #AppleToo initiative shared a belief that the company's strict culture of secrecy discouraged workers from airing concerns about problems at work with one another, family or the media. As a result, they said, problematic managers went unchecked and the company's business conduct was seldom questioned.

External links

  • Official website  
  • Ashley Gjøvik on Twitter  
  • Ashley Gjøvik on Substack

December 18, 2023
ashley, gjøvik, born, 1985, 1986, american, program, manager, activist, known, whistleblowing, labor, complaints, against, apple, after, raised, issues, with, alleged, mishandling, environmental, concerns, employee, privacy, harassment, discrimination, apple, . Ashley Gjovik born 1985 or 1986 is an American program manager and activist who is known for her whistleblowing and labor complaints against Apple Inc After she raised issues with the alleged mishandling of environmental concerns employee privacy harassment and discrimination at Apple in 2021 she was terminated by the company for allegedly leaking confidential intellectual property which Gjovik denies alleging her firing was retaliation for speaking out against the company Ashley GjovikBorn1985 or 1986 age 37 38 1 EducationPortland State University BS OccupationProgram managerKnown forWhistleblowing at Apple Inc Gjovik filed numerous complaints against Apple across the United States and Europe during 2021 and 2022 which as of December 2021 and April 2022 were being investigated by the respective parties for merit In January 2023 the US NLRB ruled that Apple s confidentiality rules violate workers rights to speak with the media and each other regarding pay and working conditions but did not yet rule on allegations regarding her dismissal Contents 1 Education and career 2 Apple complaints 2 1 Environmental health and safety concerns 2 2 Employee privacy concerns 2 3 Harassment and discrimination 2 4 Administrative leave and firing 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksEducation and careerGjovik completed a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies from Portland State University in 2012 and earned a Project Management Professional certification in 2013 2 3 Following working for Nike Inc 4 Gjovik began working at Apple in 2015 and remained there until September 2021 by which time she had become a senior engineering program manager working out of their Sunnyvale California office 5 6 While working at Apple Gjovik also studied transitional justice at University of Oxford and began a Juris Doctor degree at Santa Clara University law school 7 1 4 She also worked with a law group that helps asylum seekers and has published writing about public health privacy and human rights 1 Apple complaintsSee also Criticism of Apple Inc After raising concerns internally with Apple Gjovik began speaking openly on Twitter and to press Her allegations against Apple include mishandling of environmental concerns violations of employee privacy harassment and retaliation Her allegations were under investigation as of December 2021 8 9 Gjovik said she made 386 000 in 2021 prior to her termination and is asking for reinstatement if the agencies find that Apple fired her unlawfully 4 Environmental health and safety concerns See also List of Superfund sites in California and TRW Microwave Superfund In 2020 Gjovik raised concerns about the safety of her Santa Clara California apartment complex She wrote an essay for the San Francisco Bay View describing a debilitating mystery illness that felt terminal which she attributed to exposure to volatile organic compounds VOCs in the ground through a process called vapor intrusion into the building She said the symptoms started right after she moved in and stopped immediately after moving out 10 11 On March 17 2021 Gjovik received an email from Apple s environmental health and safety team notifying staff of forthcoming vapor intrusion testing at the Sunnyvale office building which she said sent off alarm bells due to her health issues at the apartment building 10 She asked the team what type of testing had been done in the previous six years and says she was told not to discuss her concerns with other employees and was subsequently harassed and humiliated 10 7 9 12 Gjovik said she had fainted at work and did not know why and that this had contributed to her concerns that Apple had not properly tested the site for contaminants She also believed Apple had not sufficiently informed employees of the possible health issue from chemical exposure She says she was told there was no legal requirement 13 14 The building Stewart 1 leased by Apple in 2015 15 is located on a Superfund site managed by Northrop Grumman called TRW Microwave where toxic waste had been previously disposed of and leaked into the soil 16 17 The main compound of concern is trichloroethylene TCE a known carcinogen 18 During the 1980s and through 2008 the area was one of many in Silicon Valley to undergo a massive cleanup project 19 20 In 1994 a public health study concluded that groundwater was contaminated which can lead to vapor intrusion 21 22 The EPA says the site has institutional controls to protect people from contact with affected water Drinking water in the area comes from Hetch Hetchy and municipal wells 23 In 2014 following a failed vapor intrusion test the EPA implemented new notification requirements to quickly mitigate unacceptable levels 24 1 25 Indoor air sampling confirmed the effectiveness of the remedies before the site was occupied 26 A study in 2019 determined the issues had been addressed but in 2021 employees were exposed to carcinogenic fumes through cracks in the floor 27 28 4 16 Gjovik ultimately filed complaints with the EPA 1 and the National Labor Relations Board NLRB 16 She also filed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA whistleblower complaint with the United States Department of Labor DOL 29 30 As of December 2021 OSHA was investigating the retaliation complaint 29 Gjovik said that when she asked Apple s employee relations team what options there were for her health related concerns prior to the company mandated return to office plans during the COVID 19 pandemic the representative suggested she file an Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ADA accommodations request to continue working remotely She said she had serious concerns about the workplace safety of my building and Apple s other buildings on chemical release sites but filed the request because it was the only option she was given She said she was given a medical release form to fill out to allow Apple to access her medical records Gjovik said she refused to fill it out unless only Sedgwick the claims processor was given access to her medical records Gjovik never received the accommodation 31 Employee privacy concerns Gjovik has spoken publicly about privacy concerns as an Apple employee In 2018 Gjovik s engineering team was involved in a lawsuit and because she had worked on a project that was relevant to the lawsuit lawyers requested files from her phone and computer and told her not to delete any files Gjovik said her team had recommended against keeping separate phones for her personal and professional use a practice that other Apple employees also said was commonplace 1 8 Gjovik had personal documents on the phone including nude photographs and when she asked if she could delete the photographs she said the lawyers said no 8 Glimmer formerly known as Gobbler was an internal tool that was created to test Apple s Face ID software before its 2017 launch The app took photos and brief videos when it sensed a face 8 Gjovik described the app as spyware saying It was taking photos of me in my home in my bathroom in bed anywhere I had my phone And it stored these photos somewhere and uploads them sometimes to some place Apple didn t tell us much Gjovik had signed an informed consent form before the app was installed though Gjovik and other Apple staff have alleged that agreeing to help test software like Glimmer on company owned devices was expected of them with Gjovik referring to the practice as a loyalty test Uploads containing photos or other sensitive data was done manually by employees Some non sensitive data was uploaded automatically unless employees turned it off 1 8 Gjovik spoke to press about her concerns pertaining to data privacy with an internal bug tracking tool called Radar which stores reports indefinitely and has broad defaults for employee access Apple instructs its employees not to upload sensitive confidential or private data to work tools like Radar Gjovik filed a bug report in 2019 about Apple s photo search software returning a selfie I took of myself in bed after laparoscopic surgery to treat my endometriosis when she entered the search term infant 8 The report could not be subsequently removed and the default sharing settings allowed Apple s entire software engineering team to view the details of the report 8 In September 2021 Gjovik criticized Apple s employee privacy policy which she says states that workers have no expectation of privacy when using a personal device for Apple business She says the implication of possible employee surveillance under the policies led her to walk around her apartment and unplug all of her electronics and remove all of her personal information off of Apple s servers 32 In April 2022 she brought her complaints to the United Kingdom lodging a complaint with the Data Protection Information Commissioner s Office ICO She also brought the complaint to ICO s counterpart in Brussels the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland and the non profit privacy protection organization Big Brother Watch The ICO said they are assessing the concerns which allege unlawful data collection and invasion of employee privacy raised by Gjovik 33 Harassment and discrimination See also AppleToo Gjovik has alleged that Apple pressured her into revealing details of sexual harassment she had experienced after she mentioned the incident in an unrelated meeting with a member of Apple s human resources department She said that Apple took no action related to her report except to reveal her to the employee she had accused 1 Gjovik also complained to Apple about sex discrimination from a male manager and Apple closed an investigation into the incident finding no wrongdoing Following the closure of the investigation she wrote on Twitter about the experience on August 2 2021 Wanted to share Apple employee relations confirmed this tonepolicing is totally ok feedback for me to get from my bigtech male leaders amp not sexist As this investigation rolls on I ve decided to start Tweeting the stuff they say is ok I mean they did say it was ok In the tweet she attached a screenshot of feedback from a manager who wrote that he didn t hear you going up an octave at the end of your statements and that she came across as much more authoritative 34 6 Apple opened a second investigation into the allegations in August 2021 and she was placed on paid administrative leave 34 Apple has said they don t discuss any individual employee matters out of respect for the privacy of the people involved and are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace and they take all concerns seriously and thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised 35 Administrative leave and firing Gjovik alleges that after raising concerns internally and speaking publicly about her concerns with Apple she was retaliated against repeatedly and was reassigned 9 On August 4 2021 Apple placed her on indefinite paid administrative leave for the duration of the investigation which she said she requested as a last resort and which she later described as forced and as a suspension in her complaint filed with OSHA 34 6 36 37 Gjovik subsequently filed additional various complaints about Apple with the U S Department of Labor s OSHA the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing DFEH the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC and the United States Department of Justice 38 Both the DFEH and EEOC issued Gjovik right to sue letters which enable her to file discrimination lawsuits at the state or federal level 39 35 On August 26 2021 Gjovik filed a charge with the NLRB alleging retaliation as well as harassment by a manager and forced administrative leave 40 In October 2021 Gjovik filed a whistleblower complaint with the U S Securities and Exchange Commission SEC about alleged false statements by Apple to the SEC pertaining to Apple s no action letter filed earlier that month stating that their policy is not to use concealment clauses 41 Cher Scarlett also filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC about the no action letter providing the agency with a post employment contract she was offered earlier that month 42 The no action filing was subsequently denied by the SEC 41 On September 9 2021 a member of Apple s human resources team contacted her asking to speak about a sensitive Intellectual Property matter Gjovik replied that she would speak to them but that the conversation would need to be captured in writing and she would forward it to the NLRB 1 6 Apple replied Since you have chosen not to participate in the discussion we will move forward with the information that we have and suspended her employee access She was formally fired in a third email later that day which stated she had engaged in conduct that warrants termination of employment including but not limited to violations of Apple policies The violations claimed by Apple were that she had disclosed confidential product related information in violation of Apple policies and that she had failed to cooperate and to provide accurate and complete information during the Apple investigatory process 1 6 Gjovik has denied these allegations referring to the termination as retaliation for speaking out and filing complaints about the company with multiple agencies She later filed additional charges with the NLRB and the United States Department of Labor for retaliation which are being investigated by the respective parties 36 43 44 Gjovik had previously posted on Twitter a photograph of herself that had been taken by Glimmer and screenshots of an email that asked her to volunteer to have her ears 3D scanned to aid in AirPods development On September 15 2021 she was asked to remove the two tweets in an email from the O Melveny amp Myers law firm on behalf of Apple The email claimed the tweets were violating a confidentiality agreement she had signed when she first joined the company Gjovik complied with the request to remove the tweets though in communications via a lawyer to Apple she argued that the material she had shared was not labeled confidential and did not contain anything secret or proprietary and that the photograph of her could not reasonably be argued to be copyrighted by Apple 1 Following her termination and subsequent retaliation charges Gjovik filed an additional charge with the NLRB against Apple in October 2021 following news of a company wide memo from Tim Cook sent to employees on September 21 2021 45 The memo was criticized for conflating product leaks with employee activism around workplace conditions and for including the line people who leak confidential information do not belong here which some interpreted as threatening 46 Gjovik alleged that the memo violated the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 in her charge and additionally challenged several policies in the employee handbook that she said illegally inhibit staff from exercising their federally protected rights to talk to the press discuss wages and post on social media She and some other legal professionals believe that this particular charge if prosecuted could overturn a Trump Era precedent governing workplace policies involving Boeing from December 2017 which weigh employee rights against legitimate business interests 47 48 She also said she hopes to disrupt the company s culture of secrecy 45 On January 30 2022 the NLRB found that various work rules handbook rules and confidentiality rules imposed by Apple and its executives tend to interfere with restrain or coerce employees from exercising their legal rights to collective action and to speak with the media 49 50 51 The NLRB has not yet ruled in response to Gjovik s individual charges 50 See alsoApple worker organizations Frances Haugen former Facebook product manager and Facebook files whistleblower Timnit Gebru former Google computer scientist and whistleblower Ifeoma Ozoma former Pinterest policy specialis and whistleblower Rebekah Jones former Florida Department of Health data scientist and whistleblowerReferences a b c d e f g h i j k Cameron Dell October 14 2021 Apple Wanted Her Fired It Settled On an Absurd Excuse Gizmodo Archived from the original on October 15 2021 Retrieved December 30 2021 Gjovik Ashley July 24 2021 Ashley Gjovik PDF Archived PDF from the original on July 25 2021 Ashley M Gjovik Business Insider Archived from the original on December 31 2021 Retrieved December 31 2021 a b c d Burton Lucy April 17 2022 Apple whistleblower Ashley Gjovik My life is a goddamn nightmare now The Telegraph ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved April 19 2022 McGee Patrick Temple West Patrick December 13 2021 Apple faces probe over whether it retaliated against whistleblower Financial Times Retrieved December 30 2021 a b c d e Schiffer Zoe September 9 2021 Apple fires senior engineering program manager Ashley Gjovik for allegedly leaking information The Verge Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved December 30 2021 a b Gjovik Ashley September 16 2021 I was fired from Apple after making several labor complaints against the company Speaking out feels like going up against a powerful government Business Insider Archived from the original on September 16 2021 Retrieved December 31 2021 a b c d e f g Schiffer Zoe August 30 2021 Apple cares about privacy unless you work at Apple The Verge Archived from the original on August 30 2021 Retrieved December 30 2021 a b c McGee Patrick Temple West Patrick December 13 2021 Apple faces probe over whether it retaliated against whistleblower Financial Times Retrieved December 30 2021 a b c Bright Martin December 15 2021 Apple poisoned me physically mentally spiritually Ashley Gjovik who was fired by the tech giant after blowing the whistle on toxic waste under her office says her fight will go on Index on Censorship Gjovik Ashley March 26 2021 I thought I was dying My apartment was built on toxic waste San Francisco Bay View Retrieved April 20 2022 Eidelson Josh January 30 2023 Apple Executives Violated Worker Rights US Labor Officials Say Bloomberg Retrieved January 31 2023 Gjovik has said that her disclosures were legally protected and that she was fired in retaliation for her prior complaints which alleged that after voicing fears about workplace health hazards she was harassed humiliated and asked not to tell co workers about her concerns Cameron Dell October 15 2021 Apple Wanted Her Fired It Settled On an Absurd Excuse Gizmodo Retrieved January 31 2023 Apple which has its own history of poorly handling toxic waste in Sunnyvale did not conduct adequate testing according to Gjovik whose concerns about the noxious compound grew after she recalled having once fainted at work for reasons she could not at the time explain She wanted to know why Apple hadn t done more to keep employees abreast of the situation and asked to talk to a health and safety manager Notes she recorded during the conversation later shared with the EPA stated Apple decided no legal requirement McGee Patrick September 3 2021 US labour board examines retaliation claims against Apple Financial Times Retrieved January 31 2023 Gjovik s specific complaints against Apple date back to mid March when she cited unsafe working conditions related to chemical exposure at her Apple office in Sunnyvale California where more than 100 employees are based Donato Weinstein Nathan July 9 2015 Exclusive Apple signs major lease in north San Jose marking first significant entry into city Business Journal Retrieved March 19 2022 a b c McGee Patrick September 3 2021 US labour board examines retaliation claims against Apple Financial Times Retrieved March 19 2022 McGee Patrick December 13 2021 Apple faces probe over whether it retaliated against whistleblower Financial Times Retrieved January 31 2023 Gjovik pointed to a potential conflict of interest regarding Apple board member Ronald Sugar chair of the audit committee as he was previously chief executive of Northrop Grumman the defence company responsible for the dump and maintenance of waste materials beneath the Sunnyvale office Cameron Dell October 15 2021 Apple Wanted Her Fired It Settled On an Absurd Excuse Gizmodo Retrieved January 31 2023 One of the more dangerous compounds was trichloroethylene better known as TCE Today it s a known carcinogen associated with childhood leukemia and low birth weight and other birth defects Madrigal Alexis C July 23 2013 Not Even Silicon Valley Escapes History The Atlantic Retrieved March 19 2022 Nieves Evelyn March 26 2018 The Superfund Sites of Silicon Valley The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved March 19 2022 California Department of Health Services January 10 1994 Public health assessment for TRW Microwave Inc building 825 Sunnyvale Santa Clara County California Region 9 Cerclis No CAD009159088 Final report Office of Scientific and Technical Information OSTI 5176565 US EPA OLEM September 23 2015 What is Vapor Intrusion www epa gov Retrieved January 31 2023 This figure depicts the migration of vapors in soil gas from contaminated soil and groundwater into buildings TRW MICROWAVE INC BUILDING 825 Site Profile Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved March 19 2022 TRW MICROWAVE INC BUILDING 825 Site Profile Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved March 19 2022 Silicon Valley s Toxic Past Haunts Sunnyvale Neighborhood KQED FM Retrieved March 19 2022 US EPA OLEM August 2021 Superfund Sites in Reuse in California Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved March 19 2022 Cameron Dell October 15 2021 Apple Wanted Her Fired It Settled On an Absurd Excuse Gizmodo Retrieved January 31 2023 In 2019 a new EPA study stated the vapor intrusion issue had since been addressed but it warned a long term fix still had to be assessed Silberling Amanda January 31 2023 Labor officials found that Apple execs infringed on workers rights TechCrunch Retrieved January 31 2023 Gjovik was fired by Apple in September 2021 for leaking confidential information she told TechCrunch that she thinks she was fired in retaliation after reporting to the EPA that her office was built on the triple site of toxic waste in Silicon Valley where cracks in the floor exposed employees to carcinogenic fumes a b Hamilton Isobel Asher December 14 2021 OSHA is investigating Apple over its treatment of employees Business Insider Retrieved April 20 2022 Bubenik Timothy W 2021 Apple Accused of Osha Retaliation Despite the Lack of an Osha Complaint Martindale Hubbell Schiffer Zoe September 30 2021 Apple s fortress of secrecy is crumbling from the inside The Verge Archived from the original on September 30 2021 Retrieved January 3 2022 Roach Sarah September 20 2021 Worker surveillance is making employees miserable Protocol The people power and politics of tech Retrieved January 3 2022 Burton Lucy April 10 2022 Apple whistleblower brings spying claims to UK The Telegraph ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved April 17 2022 a b c Schiffer Zoe August 4 2021 Apple places female engineering program manager on administrative leave after tweeting about sexism in the office The Verge Archived from the original on August 4 2021 Retrieved December 31 2021 a b Savov Vlad Eidelson Josh September 9 2021 Apple Fires Manager Who Complained She Gains Right to Sue Bloomberg Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved January 3 2022 a b Browning Kellen December 13 2021 The Labor Department is investigating Apple s treatment of employees The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 31 2021 Snider Mike October 17 2021 Fired co leader of AppleToo worker activist group to file federal complaints USA Today Retrieved April 25 2022 Nicas Jack Browning Kellen September 17 2021 Tim Cook Faces Surprising Employee Unrest at Apple The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 30 2021 Hays Kali September 10 2021 Program manager fired by Apple allegedly over workplace complaints receives right to sue from federal agency Business Insider Archived from the original on September 11 2021 Retrieved January 3 2022 Savov Vlad Eidelson Josh September 10 2021 Apple Fires Manager Who Complained She Gains Right to Sue Bloomberg Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved December 30 2021 a b Love Julia Nellis Stephen December 22 2021 U S SEC allows Apple shareholder s push for details on non disclosure Reuters Retrieved December 30 2021 Drange Matt November 22 2021 Apple told the SEC it doesn t silence employees regarding workplace harassment or discrimination New whistleblower documents show that isn t true Business Insider Archived from the original on November 23 2021 Retrieved December 31 2021 Hays Kali September 16 2021 Apple hit by another NLRB charge for firing senior manager who complained of harassment Business Insider Archived from the original on September 17 2021 Retrieved December 31 2021 Fried Ina December 14 2021 Labor Department digs into complaint against Apple Axios Retrieved December 31 2021 a b Eidelson Josh October 12 2021 Apple CEO s Anti Leak Edict Broke Law Ex Employee Alleges Bloomberg Archived from the original on October 13 2021 Retrieved December 30 2021 Schiffer Zoe September 22 2021 Tim Cook says employees who leak memos do not belong at Apple according to leaked memo The Verge Retrieved January 3 2022 Mak Aaron October 27 2021 How Leakers Get Dealt With in Silicon Valley Slate Archived from the original on October 27 2021 Retrieved January 3 2022 NLRB Establishes New Standard Governing Workplace Policies and Upholds No Camera Policy in Boeing National Labor Relations Board Archived from the original on December 23 2017 Retrieved January 3 2022 Eidelson Josh January 30 2023 Apple Executives Violated Worker Rights US Labor Officials Say Bloomberg com Retrieved January 31 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 The dispute was brought to the agency by former employee Ashley Gjovik who filed claims in 2021 alleging that an email Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook sent pledging to punish leakers as well as a set of policies in Apple s employee handbook violated federal law a b Silberling Amanda January 31 2023 Labor officials found that Apple execs infringed on workers rights TechCrunch Retrieved January 31 2023 The National Labor Relations Board NLRB found merit to complaints that high level executives at Apple violated national labor law The NLRB has not yet made a decision regarding Gjovik s complaints that she was illegally fired in retaliation for speaking out about work conditions Mickle Tripp January 31 2023 Regulators Find Apple s Secrecy Violates Workers Rights After a yearlong investigation a federal labor board determined that the tech giant s rules interfere with employees right to organize The New York Times The labor board responded to five charges brought in late 2021 by two former Apple employees Ashley Gjovik an engineering program manager at Apple for six years and Cher Scarlett an engineer on the company s security team Activists in the AppleToo initiative shared a belief that the company s strict culture of secrecy discouraged workers from airing concerns about problems at work with one another family or the media As a result they said problematic managers went unchecked and the company s business conduct was seldom questioned External linksOfficial website nbsp Ashley Gjovik on Twitter nbsp Ashley Gjovik on Substack Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ashley Gjovik amp oldid 1171053308, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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