‘Apple illegally spies on workers’ personal devices, silences talk about pay’: Lawsuit
The lawsuit said Apple’s surveillance policies unlawfully restrain employee whistleblowing, competition, freedom of employee movement in the job market, and freedom of speech
A lawsuit was filed in a California court on Sunday (December 1) accusing Apple of illegally monitoring its employees’ personal devices and iCloud accounts. The complaint says the company also prevents them from discussing their salary and conditions at work.
The lawsuit was filed by Amar Bhakta who works in digital advertising in the American multinational firm.
The complaint said Apple requires its employees to install software on their personal devices that they use for work to allow the company access their emails, photo galleries, and other personal information, reported Reuters.
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Bhakta said he was barred from talking about his work on podcasts, and the company told him to delete from his LinkedIn account information about his working conditions.
The lawsuit said, “Apple’s surveillance policies and practices chill, and thus also unlawfully restrain, employee whistleblowing, competition, freedom of employee movement in the job market, and freedom of speech.”
The lawsuit further claimed that Apple imposes confidentiality policies that prohibit employees from discussing working conditions, and from engaging in legally-protected whistleblowing.
The lawsuit was filed under a unique California law that allows workers to sue their employers on behalf of the state and retain 35 per cent of the penalties that are recovered.
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The lawyers who have filed the lawsuit for Bhakta also represent two women who had filed a lawsuit in June accusing Apple of systematically underpaying female employees in several of its divisions.
Apple is also facing three complaints from a US labour board that claim it has illegally deterred employees from discussing issues like pay and sex discrimination with each other and the media.
Apple’s response
Apple has denied any wrongdoing on its part.
The company in a statement said the claims in the lawsuit lack merit, and that its workers are trained annually on their rights to discuss their working conditions.
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The company said, “At Apple, we’re focused on creating the best products and services in the world and we work to protect the inventions our teams create for customers.”
