The very first "scandal" she uncovered at Apple was her getting feedback on a presentation from another employee. She called it sexism and publicly shared private messages which basically proofed it was just that, professional feedback.
It looks a lot like this is a mental health issue rather than actual wrongdoings at Apple. What she is doing now might really harm her ability to ever get hired again by a company in SV.
> What she is doing now might really harm her ability to ever get hired again by a company in SV.
If what Apple is doing is representative of how companies deal with things in SV, then good riddance. There are plenty of companies not in SV that don't intimidate employees.
I've read some of her writings about superfund sites, her battle with apple where she publicly shared every mildly problematic or offensive email / communication she'd ever received, etc.
I don't blame Apple at all for getting rid of her. She comes across (even while giving her side of the story) as unhinged and awful to work with. I have to wonder if maybe this is an ongoing mental health crisis or something.
> maybe this is an ongoing mental health crisis or something.
Assuming you are right (a big assumption) cutting off her health insurance is one poor way of handling the situation. This is a very dark side of employer provided health insurance in systems that don’t really have socialised healthcare.
Ashley "caught" her officemate doing something naughty, y'all.
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In the OP thread she complains the Superfund site hasn't been tested for 6 years. What such sociopaths conveniently leave leave out is whether it's a legal requirement to test it within 6 years. It's not. Such tests cannot be conducted on the whim of an employee.
Reading this tweet thread, the authors website, and then their gofundme has me curious how much is being left out. I'm empathetic for someone losing their job, especially over voicing a health concern, but after reading everything available, something doesn't feel right.
This excerpt from their GoFundMe makes it seem like this is the person who's unhappy and silent on every team theyre on, and only decides to "get one back" when they finally get let go after the employer has exhausted all attempts at finding a team they can be productive on.
> I worked at Apple for six years. I experienced misconduct and abuse on every team I was on, but I pushed through it. I knew if I spoke up about it, my career in tech would be over.
Regardless, I empathize with this person losing their job, and hope they can find a career where they can be happy and productive.
I had a friend who was fired from, or quit, every job he had for nearly a decade. He response was always the same, "the boss is a moron" or "the people there are idiots". We had a long conversation where I laid it out for him. The odds that after 10 years everyone he worked with was an idiot or a moron were pretty slim and the only thing every single one of the those people had in common was him.
Fortunately he took me seriously and had a lot of growth in a short period of time. He's been at his last job for 15 years and moved to the head of his department and gets a bit of a laugh now when he hears that people working for him think he's a moron.
You are making unsubstantiated claims about the person. If the reasons apple used such ad disclosing confidential info is correct then at that should be easily provable. Have you seen any evidence of apple claiming the person is difficult to work with or are you attacking them based on instinct? This isn't exactly the first person who has made similar claims about working at apple [1] , I only hear similar stories about apple in the tech industry. The apartment breakin and other criminal techniques, I can assure you apple isn't the only one, this kind of a thing happens (i know first hand!).
Unfortunately, this person is better of finding a job elsewhere and trying to live their lives. Not a fight they can win.
It's actually quite concerning and even a little suspicious that so many defamatory comments are linking criticism of the workplace with mental illness.
This was widely reported at the time. I don't know about the impersonating police, and I don't think they broke in (I guess it depends on your interpretation) but here is an article with some info... https://www.cnet.com/news/the-lost-prototype-iphone-a-year-l...
A huge thing if true, and not worth it. However it is exactly the kind of thing a person who in paranoid would believe.
What is more likely, a big company is breaking into employees home and impersonating the police, or Apple has employed somebody with an undiscovered mental illness?
There's several follow-up articles that share that they were working with the police, and the badged Apple employees were retired police officers who were sworn in during these searches.
TLDR, nothing happened because they didn't break the law
Gjøvik’s claims should be investigated. But regardless of their validity, this opportunity should be taken to discuss the work culture at Apple, which has long escaped scrutiny unlike other corporate giants such as Amazon or Ballmer-era Microsoft.
Clearly crazy person throws out unsubstantiated complaints along with a bunch of complaining about non issues, and you think that's justification to put a company under scrutity? Ok commissar.
It's so hard to take her seriously. She's now saying she was suspended, which isn't true. She is on the record and quoted as saying she requested paid admin leave when they wouldn't give her a paid exit and offered medical leave instead. She tweeted about an unreleased product, and then acts like she somehow has no idea what IP leak they are talking about.
If she would lie about these things, how are we to believe anything else she says?
I find it interesting that everytime something like this comes up: a person (usually female) gets fired from a tech firm and alleges abuse and toxic work place, the response from the Hacker News crowd is is heavily negative (to the person) and tries to say the person is crazy/overly sensitive/hysterical.
I'm not saying this specific person is right, but if the argument in the comments of "if everyone you work with is a moron, then maybe the problem is you" is true (and I think it can be) then we must consider that some of these stories are true and some people (and it appears to be often women) are being treated abysmally at work.
If Apple can scan people's photos (just in case there's something nasty there) then they should welcome government investigation of their workplaces (just in case).
I find it interesting that every time this topic comes up there’s a comment like yours that spreads falsehoods and distortions about the state of HN. For example, won’t find much love for Bizzard’s sexism:
I thought the issue was that her manager provided feedback to her, and then complimented her. I didn't even realize she had this this issue around the "triple Superfund toxic waste dump".
Is this the bay area? You can't move an inch of contaminated soil without a HUGE hassle, so I'm kind of curious ignoring apple how people were being allowed to be exposed in their office without adequate safety to a triple superfund toxic waste dump. Building inspector, planning clearance? No one caught this?
It appears that user Micropsia is claiming to be Ashley, in this thread. Judging by their past post history, it appears in the past they have participated in discussions about Ashley while pretending to be someone else, using the word "she" when referring to themselves.
I actually doubt there’s any. Seems like there’s a column of people who are so unwilling to stomach any criticism of Apple at any level, and freely act as corporate defenders pro bono. It is both maddening and puzzling. I’ve noticed this on HN for years.
[+] [-] Max-20|4 years ago|reply
It looks a lot like this is a mental health issue rather than actual wrongdoings at Apple. What she is doing now might really harm her ability to ever get hired again by a company in SV.
[+] [-] capableweb|4 years ago|reply
If what Apple is doing is representative of how companies deal with things in SV, then good riddance. There are plenty of companies not in SV that don't intimidate employees.
[+] [-] aaomidi|4 years ago|reply
And no, a lot of people didn't see that as professional feedback.
[+] [-] jmcgough|4 years ago|reply
I don't blame Apple at all for getting rid of her. She comes across (even while giving her side of the story) as unhinged and awful to work with. I have to wonder if maybe this is an ongoing mental health crisis or something.
[+] [-] badrabbit|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lostlogin|4 years ago|reply
Assuming you are right (a big assumption) cutting off her health insurance is one poor way of handling the situation. This is a very dark side of employer provided health insurance in systems that don’t really have socialised healthcare.
[+] [-] reactspa|4 years ago|reply
Source: she thinks it's okay to take a creep-shot of a colleague's computer screen and post it on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1426572384736202758
Ashley "caught" her officemate doing something naughty, y'all.
-----------------
In the OP thread she complains the Superfund site hasn't been tested for 6 years. What such sociopaths conveniently leave leave out is whether it's a legal requirement to test it within 6 years. It's not. Such tests cannot be conducted on the whim of an employee.
[+] [-] 0des|4 years ago|reply
This excerpt from their GoFundMe makes it seem like this is the person who's unhappy and silent on every team theyre on, and only decides to "get one back" when they finally get let go after the employer has exhausted all attempts at finding a team they can be productive on.
> I worked at Apple for six years. I experienced misconduct and abuse on every team I was on, but I pushed through it. I knew if I spoke up about it, my career in tech would be over.
Regardless, I empathize with this person losing their job, and hope they can find a career where they can be happy and productive.
[+] [-] SteveGerencser|4 years ago|reply
Fortunately he took me seriously and had a lot of growth in a short period of time. He's been at his last job for 15 years and moved to the head of his department and gets a bit of a laugh now when he hears that people working for him think he's a moron.
[+] [-] badrabbit|4 years ago|reply
Unfortunately, this person is better of finding a job elsewhere and trying to live their lives. Not a fight they can win.
[1] https://www.teamblind.com/post/Apple-Toxic-Work-Environment-...
[+] [-] isoprophlex|4 years ago|reply
The big shocker here isn't Apple getting rid of someone who rocked the boat too much, that's a given in $bigcorp.
It's the allegation of Apple breaking in to someone's home & impersonating the police. Now that i find shocking.
Big if true.
[+] [-] rrsmtz|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaomidi|4 years ago|reply
They certainly have the money and the expertise to do it. If this is at all a concern, what is this forum doing to prevent that from happening?
https://www.gawker.com/5856260/apples-sleazy-secret-police-l...
[+] [-] chrismcb|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomjen3|4 years ago|reply
What is more likely, a big company is breaking into employees home and impersonating the police, or Apple has employed somebody with an undiscovered mental illness?
[+] [-] n0000d3js|4 years ago|reply
TLDR, nothing happened because they didn't break the law
[+] [-] exBarrelSpoiler|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blacktriangle|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beardedman|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] n0000d3js|4 years ago|reply
If she would lie about these things, how are we to believe anything else she says?
[+] [-] micropsia|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tsherr|4 years ago|reply
I'm not saying this specific person is right, but if the argument in the comments of "if everyone you work with is a moron, then maybe the problem is you" is true (and I think it can be) then we must consider that some of these stories are true and some people (and it appears to be often women) are being treated abysmally at work.
If Apple can scan people's photos (just in case there's something nasty there) then they should welcome government investigation of their workplaces (just in case).
[+] [-] jahewson|4 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27914062
All this says to me is that the facts are not on your side. But hey, let’s just ignore those and launch personal attacks on each other.
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] whoknowswhat11|4 years ago|reply
Is this the bay area? You can't move an inch of contaminated soil without a HUGE hassle, so I'm kind of curious ignoring apple how people were being allowed to be exposed in their office without adequate safety to a triple superfund toxic waste dump. Building inspector, planning clearance? No one caught this?
[+] [-] guytpearson1|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] gandutraveler|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] 0des|4 years ago|reply
https://imgur.com/5bxtTDR.png
[+] [-] micropsia|4 years ago|reply
Why are you invested so much in this?
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jonathaneunice|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] exBarrelSpoiler|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] micropsia|4 years ago|reply