AppleToo: Handful Of Apple Employees Demand Accountability; Timnit Gebru Joins In

Several Apple employees have organized themselves under the banner AppleToo to expose the tech giant’s alleged internal patterns of racism and sexism among others.

"The truth is that for many Apple workers -- a reality faced disproportionately by our Black, Indigenous, and other colleagues from minoritized racial, gender, and historically marginalized groups of people -- the culture of secrecy creates an opaque, intimidating fortress," wrote the group in a statement.

The employees accused Apple's management of isolating, degrading and even gaslighting employees when discrimination and misconduct of any kind experienced or witnessed are reported.

"We've exhausted all internal avenues. We've talked with our leadership. We've gone to the People team. We've escalated through Business Conduct. Nothing has changed," stated the group.

Currently, 15 employees and former employees have been directly involved in forming the organization, reported The Verge.

Along with a website, the organization also launched a Twitter account called Apple Workers to gather stories from former and current employees. Through this campaign, the organization aims to improve working conditions for all employees. "United, we can collaborate to iterate a healthier workplace," said the group.

The organization also supports and links to a "Wage Transparency" survey on its main website. The AppleToo movement’s creation was inspired by Apple’s effort to suppress pay equity discussion earlier this month among employees by shutting down employee-run wage transparency surveys.

The group shared a statement with Input magazine stating that they are working together to figure out what their next step will be. One possible outcome could be the creation of an official union, which could bargain and legally enforce changes within Apple.

Apple pays its employees handsomely to maintain confidentiality and adhere to company terms, which the group says propagates misconduct and discrimination within the company, reported Input.

Former Apple employee and prominent AI expert Timnit Gebru told The Verge, "I experienced so many egregious things when I was at Apple, and always wondered how they manage to get out of the spotlight. I’m happy to see that Apple workers are organizing. It is past time for Apple to be held accountable."