Apple violated labor law and limited communication with employees

On By Yukito

  • The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against Apple for allegedly limiting its employees’ communications and keeping them from asking for better working conditions.
  • Another serious allegation in the complaint is that Apple wrongfully fired an employee for supporting the #AppleToo movement.
  • The company denies all these allegations and announces its defense in the trial scheduled for February 2025.

Apple under fire for violating labor law and limiting communication with employees

Apple is once again in the authorities’ crosshairs. This time it is the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

A complaint was filed on Thursday last week accusing Apple of intentionally stopping workers from grouping together and advocating for better working conditions. This includes imposing restrictions on the use of social media and Slack (a messaging platform used by companies for internal communication).

Reports suggest that Apple employees do as well Creating new channels on Slack is prohibited without the need to obtain the consent of the superior. Additionally, if employees have something to say against the company, they must communicate it through their manager or the official People Support group.

All these steps severely limit freedom of speech and have been widely criticized by Apple employees. Not only that, but these activities are also, simply put, completely illegal.

Moreover, one of the key issues raised in the complaint is Janneke Parrish’s release in 2021. She was an important figure in the #AppleToo movement. The company claimed to have leaked confidential information.

However, Parrish denied these allegations and stated that she was fired because she spoke out against the company.

Her fight in the #AppleToo movement was discovered after she talked about it on Slack demanding the possibility of permanent work from home and shared her concerns about some of the company’s internal policies, particularly those that allegedly encourage discrimination and pay inequality.

What does Apple have to say about this?

Apple denies all allegations and says yes committed to creating and maintaining a healthy work culture. She also ensures that each employee’s feedback is extremely valuable to her and takes any concerns seriously, investigating them where necessary.

It is worth adding that Apple does too he denied firing Parrish for speaking out against the company. But Parrish’s lawyer, Laurie Burgess, won’t go down without a fight. She expressed her decision to hold Apple accountable for any illegal activity.

Therefore, the only option to resolve this matter at this time is through the trial period is scheduled for February 2025. If Apple loses the case, it will have to compensate Parrish for the mistreatment and financial hardship she went through after being fired. Moreover, Apple will also have to modify its workplace policies.

This is not the only complaint from the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Apple. In a separate case, Apple was accused of “enforcing too broad confidentiality and non-competition agreements” and restricting its employees’ use of social media with unnecessarily strict guidelines. Apple also denied this claim.

However, the company’s problems are not over yet. In a separate case, two women accused Apple deliberately lowering the wages of employees. The plaintiffs worked for the company for nearly ten years and determined that this was a company-wide problem affecting more than 12,000 employees in various fields.