Apple has acknowledged missteps and said it will “make changes” after reports it mishandled 15 women’s allegations of sexual abuse.
Apple has long prided itself on being inclusive and focusing on human rights issues. In spite of that, a new report from Financial Times, via Business Insider, indicates the company’s PR team was dismissive and hostile towards 15 women who came forward with complaints.
In one case, a woman said a male colleague took her home after “a casual co-worker’s happy hour” and then undressed her and took photos of her after she fell asleep. In another case, a woman said she received constant sexual messages from a male colleague.
In the women’s cases, as well as 13 others, Apple’s HR team did little to nothing to help. Known as the People Team within the company, the department reportedly favored managers over employees, refusing to take action even when the women had hard proof of the alleged misconduct.
Read more: Apple Claims Human Rights Violation in Colombian Ban, Uses Similar Tactic as Epic Games
In some cases the complaints led to the women leaving Apple, while others were offered lump financial sums to keep quiet and not speak badly of the company.
“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 told the FT. “As a result, we will make changes to our training and processes.”
As Insider points out, Apple’s veil of secrecy is increasingly being pierced by employees unhappy with the company’s decisions and directions. While many previous revelations have been about remote work and employees’ unwillingness to go back to the office, this revelation is far worse and does much more to tarnish Apple’s image.
For a company that prides itself on ‘thinking different,’ the People Team’s response to these allegations is a little too much ‘same old, same old.’ Hopefully, the company can address the issues and root out such unacceptable behavior.
