Apple's female manager raises concerns about gender discrimination and safety issues in the workplace and is asked to take 'indefinite leave'

by Jorge Quinteros

Ashley Gjøvik , Apple's engineering program manager, reportedly was asked to take an indefinite leave when he spoke out about internal issues such as sexism and a hostile work environment. Gjøvik has been complaining to Apple about various issues he has experienced for several months, and the research team is investigating the allegations.

Apple places female engineering program manager on administrative leave after tweeting about sexism in the office --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/4/22610112/apple-female-engineering-manager-leave-sexism-work-environment

Female Apple employee put on administrative leave following tweets about sexism in the workplace | AppleInsider
https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/08/04/apple-places-female-employee-on-administrative-leave-following-tweets-about-sexism-in-the-workplace

In an interview with The Verge in foreign media, Gjøvik said, 'I'm concerned about Apple's Human Resources department over the months about sexism, hostile work conditions, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, and years of retaliation. Was expressed. ' While Apple was investigating the issue, it said it asked Gjøvik to ease the hostile work environment, but Apple offered Gjøvik an employee support program (EAP) therapy and medical leave.

Gjøvik, on the other hand, argued that such personal mental support was meaningless and still asked Apple to improve the work environment. After that, he said he could take paid leave if he had no other choice, and Apple decided to take Gjøvik indefinitely without improving the work environment. Apple has also suggested to Gjøvik that he should refrain from having one-on-one discussions with other female employees during the survey and refrain from joining the Slack channel.

So, following raising concerns to #Apple about #sexism , #hostileworkenvironment , & #unsafeworkconditions , I'm now on indefinite paid administrative leave per #Apple employee relations, while they investigate my concerns. This seems to include me not using Apple's internal Slack ..

— Ashley M. Gjøvik (@ashleygjovik) August 4, 2021

Since late July, Gjøvik has been actively criticizing Apple's work culture on Twitter. In a tweet on July 24, Apple criticized Apple's move to return employees to the office, saying, 'Apple endangers our lives without any logical explanation.'

Forced back to #Apple offices for ' #collaboration ' during a #pandemic with no required #vaccinations , distancing, or #masks ? My take: Ok, you want me to put my life at risk, decrease my #productivity , and you' re not giving me any logic on why I actually need to do that? No, thx. Https://t.co/mATtSBwHjM

— Ashley M. Gjøvik (@ashleygjovik) July 24, 2021

We also share on Twitter a case where Gjøvik reported a problem, but Apple determined it was 'no problem.' For example, in feedback to Gjøvik's presentation, Gjøvik argues that it may be sexism, as his male boss pointed out that 'it is better to stop raising the tone of the voice at the end.'

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? Pic.twitter.com/EImLTjRTBl

— Ashley M. Gjøvik (@ashleygjovik) August 3, 2021

In addition, after Apple tried to get rid of Gjøvik by promptly completing the first investigation into sexism, he immediately asked for 558 new pieces of evidence to be investigated.

#Apple employee relation's 1st #sexism investigation only arose while I was complaining about unsafe work conditions and related #intimidation . They tried to quickly brush me off & prevented me from raising more concerns. This time, I gave them 558 pieces of evidence to review ..

— Ashley M. Gjøvik (@ashleygjovik) August 4, 2021

In recent years, various companies, including Apple, have been required to respond to internal voices and work to improve their internal culture. In May, it was pointed out that Antonio Garcia-Martinez, an advertising team hired by Apple in April, made a statement that discriminates against women in his previous book, and there were cases where he was immediately dismissed. I am.

Apple fires former Facebook product manager just hired--for discrimination against women--CNET Japan
https://japan.cnet.com/article/35170705/