Reuters reported on Tuesday that Apple was accused in a new lawsuit of illegally monitoring employees' personal devices and iCloud accounts, while prohibiting employees from discussing their pay and working conditions.
Amar Bhakta, an Apple digital advertising employee, said in a lawsuit filed in California court on Sunday that Apple requires employees to install software on personal devices used for work that allows the company to access their email, photo libraries, health data and "smart homes". "Information and other personal data.
The lawsuit also alleges that Apple's confidentiality policy prohibits employees from discussing working conditions, including external discussions with the media, and impedes legally protected prosecutions.
Bhakta, who has worked at Apple since 2020, said he was banned from talking about work in podcasts and asked to remove information about working conditions from his LinkedIn profile.
"Apple's surveillance policies and practices have a chilling effect on prosecutorial conduct, the free movement of employees in the job market, free speech, and competition, and therefore constitute unlawful restrictions," the lawsuit states.
An Apple spokesman issued a statement saying the accusations were baseless and emphasized that the company trains employees every year on their right to discuss working conditions.
"Apple is focused on creating the best products and services in the world, while working hard to protect the inventions our teams create for our customers," the statement said.
Bhakta's lawyers are also representing two women who filed a lawsuit in June this year accusing Apple of systematically paying lower wages to female employees in its engineering, marketing and AppleCare departments. In this regard, Apple has stated that the company is committed to inclusion and pay equity.
In addition, Apple has also faced at least three complaints from the U.S. Department of Labor, accusing the company of illegally preventing employees from discussing issues such as gender bias and pay discrimination, including restricting their use of social media and internal communication tool Slack. Apple denies this.
The new lawsuit was filed under a unique California law that allows employees to sue their employers on behalf of the state and keep 35% of any recovered penalties.
