According to a Financial Times report published Thursday, more than a dozen women accused Apple of mishandling sexual misconduct claims they filed while working for the iPhone maker.
The 15 current and former employees of the Silicon Valley behemoth reported retaliation or a disappointing or counterproductive response from the company.
Apple did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but told the newspaper that it works hard to investigate misconduct complaints and that it would change its training processes.
In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, which sparked action against the tech industry’s male-dominated culture, attitudes, and behavior, sexual harassment and discrimination scandals have rocked Silicon Valley.
Megan Mohr, one of the women mentioned in the story, was inspired by #metoo to report to Apple in 2018 that a male coworker had removed her shirt and bra and photographed her after a night out drinking together while Mohr briefly fell asleep.
The company noted the worker’s conduct was potentially criminal but did not violate any policy in the context of his work at Apple after speaking with human resources about her claim, according to the story.
She left the company in January after 14 years and is now asking the company to reconsider its policies, according to the report.
The women interviewed for the story represent only a small portion of the firm’s global workforce of approximately 165,000 employees.
Jayna Whitt, another woman mentioned in the story, wrote a blog post in which she stated that a romantic relationship with a fellow Apple attorney had gone bad and had become dangerous.
She claimed the man was mentally ill, physically violent, and emotionally abusive, but when Whitt informed Apple, the company advised her to call the police if she felt unsafe.
According to Whitt’s blog post, her complaint to the company about the man’s behavior resulted in her being reprimanded for allowing a personal relationship to interfere with her work.
Apple is not the only major technology company facing allegations of abuse or improper handling of misconduct claims; Activision Blizzard and Elon Musk’s Tesla have both been embroiled in legal battles.
Six women filed a lawsuit against Tesla in December, alleging a culture of sexual harassment at the electric carmaker’s California plant and other locations, including unwanted touching, catcalls, and retaliation for those who complained.