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Apple is facing a lawsuit alleging it spied on employees’ devices and enforced policies silencing discussions about pay and workplace issues, raising alarms over privacy and labor rights violations under California law.
Apple Employee Files Lawsuit Alleging Device Monitoring
According to Reuters, a new complaint claims that Apple unlawfully spied on its employees' iCloud accounts and personal devices and forbade them from expressing their opinions on their wages and working conditions.
Apple employee Amar Bhakta, who works in digital advertising, filed a lawsuit in a California state court on Sunday. Bhakta claims that Apple forces its employees to install software on their personal devices that they use for work. This software gives Apple access to employees' email, photo libraries, health data, and "smart home" data, among other personal details.
Secrecy Policies Allegedly Restrict Employee Rights
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Apple has strict secrecy agreements that forbid workers from speaking out about their working circumstances, even to the media, or from using their right to lawfully protect themselves by blowing the whistle on illegal activities.
Bhakta, an employee of Apple since 2020, claims that he was told to delete material on his working circumstances from his LinkedIn profile and that he was forbidden from discussing his work on podcasts.
"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," according to the complaint.
Apple Defends Employee Rights Training Amid Allegations
According to a representative from Apple, the company trains its employees every year on their rights to speak up about their working circumstances, and the lawsuit's accusations are without merit, Investment.com shares.
"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," the company stated.
Previous Legal Challenges Over Pay Equity
Two women who were represented by Bhakta's attorneys sued Apple in June, claiming that the tech company routinely underpaid its female employees in the fields of engineering, marketing, and AppleCare. Inclusion and wage equity are priorities for Apple, the company has stated.
In addition, a U.S. labor board has filed at least three complaints against Apple, alleging that the tech company has blocked workers from using Slack and other workplace messaging apps in an effort to silence them about discrimination based on gender and salary. No misconduct has been admitted by the corporation.
Unique California Law Used in Latest Case
An unusual California statute permits employees to sue their employers on the state's behalf and retain 35% of any penalties recovered; this is the legal basis for the new case.
