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More than a dozen women have accused Apple of mishandling sexual misconduct claims they filed while working for the iPhone maker, according to a Financial Times report published Thursday.
15 current and former employees of the Silicon Valley giant said they either suffered retaliation or received a disappointing or counterproductive response from the company.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told the newspaper that it was working hard to investigate complaints of misconduct and added that it would make changes to its training processes.
Scandals of sexual harassment or discrimination have rocked Silicon Valley in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which has spurred action against male-dominated culture, attitudes and behavior.
One of the women mentioned in the story, Megan Mohr, was inspired by #metoo to report to Apple in 2018 that a male colleague had removed her shirt and bra and photographed her after they shared a night of drinking while Mohr briefly fell asleep.
After speaking with human resources about her claim, the company noted that the worker’s behavior was potentially criminal but did not violate any policies in the context of his employment at Apple, the filing said.
She resigned in January, after 14 years with the firm, and is now asking the company to take a hard look at its policies, the report said.
The women interviewed for the article are part of the roughly 165,000 people who work for the firm worldwide.
Another woman quoted in the story, Jaina Witt, wrote a blog post saying that a romantic relationship with a fellow Apple lawyer had turned dangerous.
She said the man was volatile, physically abusive and emotionally abusive, but when Whitt told Apple, the firm advised her to call the police if she felt unsafe.
Her complaint to the company about the man’s behavior eventually led to her being reprimanded for allowing a personal relationship to get in the way of her work, Witt said in a blog post.
Apple isn’t the only major tech firm to face allegations of abuse or misconduct claims, with game studio Activision Blizzard and Elon Musk’s Tesla both hit by lawsuits.
Six women sued Tesla in December, alleging a culture of sexual harassment at the electric car maker’s California factory and other facilities that included unwanted touching, yelling and retaliation against those who complained.
