Apple’s senior engineering program manager , Ashley Gjøvik, was placed on indefinite administrative leave this week after posting a series of tweets reporting alleged sexism and discrimination in the workplace.
Gjøvik, inspired by other public reports of sexism at the company, began tweeting about her experience at Apple in late July. In an interview with The Verge , the manager said that for months she had raised concerns about years of experiences with sexism, a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and retaliation within the company.
Upon requesting an investigation into the matter, Apple offered sick leave and therapy through the employee assistance program. “I told them that it didn’t make sense and I said they should talk to my leadership and set oversight and boundaries,” points out Gjøvik.
According to the official, the company apparently did nothing and would have tried to hush up the case. The manager then provided the company with about 558 pieces of evidence to support her claims in a second allegation.
In an August 3 tweet, Gjøvik shared a screenshot of a conversation that supposedly illustrates the kind of sex discrimination she faces. In the discussion, a high-ranking male employee provides feedback on a recent presentation, saying the manager “does great” by refraining from raising her voice at the end of the sentences. Managers claimed that the inflection made statements sound like questions.
Apple has seen an increase in employee activism in recent months. In May, iPhone maker officials expressed concerns about the hiring of former Facebook advertising manager Antonio Garcia Martinez.
In the autobiographical book Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley , published in 2016, Martinez reflects controversial views on black women and people. He was fired within hours of being hired.