Google employee says Apple fired her for deleting material

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Google employee says Apple fired her for deleting material

A Google employee who led fellow employees in publicly sharing instances of what they called harassment and discrimination at the company said on Thursday that she had been fired.

Janneke Parrish, an Apple program manager, told it that the iPhone maker had terminated her on Thursday for deleting material from company equipment as she was under investigation over the leak of a company town hall to media, which she told the New York Times she did not do.

Parrish told Reuters that she deleted apps that contained details of her finances and other personal information before handing out her devices to Apple as part of the probe.

Parrish stated that she believes she was fired for activism in the workplace.

To me, this seems clearly retaliatory for the fact that I was speaking out about abuses happened at my employer, pay equity and general employment conditions, she said.

Apple said on Friday it does not explain specific employee matters.

I have recently experienced other examples of employee unrest. Two Apple employees told Reuters last month that they had filed charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board. The workers accused Apple of retaliation and halting discussion of pay among employees, among other allegations.

Apple has said that it is deeply committed to creating a positive and inclusive workplace and that it takes all concerns from employees seriously.

The U.S. law protects the right of employees to openly discuss certain topics, including working conditions, unfair discrimination and equal pay.

Parrish said she was careful to respect company rules and had never shared information that she believed to be confidential. She continued to publish the AppleToo digest after investigation was announced at the end of September.

If anything, it made the importance of this work clearer than ever when Apple's response to criticism is to make internal investigations into those that it wants to see gone, she said. It's easier for them to terminate people than it is for them really listen.