Following reports that Apple has a toxic and sexist work environment, the company's HR chief said that it has taken action to address the situation.
Leaked emails by Apple employees supposedly revealed the toxic and sexist work environment at the company, according to an extensive report by Mic. The report is anchored by an incident involving a female employee hidden behind the name Danielle.
In one morning of July, Danielle heard the men in her team joking about an office intruder coming in to rape everybody. She spoke out against the jokes, acquiring an apology from the male team member that started it but was not confident that there will be changes coming, as that was not the first time that such an incident happened.
Danielle wrote a letter regarding the incident of rape jokes to Apple CEO Tim Cook himself but did not get a reply. She was given a month off, but when she returned, she found out that there were no serious consequences that resulted from her complaint.
Danielle's story is just one of the many incidents that employees wrote about in the leaked emails, painting Apple as a company with a toxic and sexist atmosphere.
Apple HR chief Denise Young Smith, in an interview with Recode, responded to the allegations.
"We take these things not just seriously, but personally," said Young Smith, who has worked for Apple since 1997.
According to Young Smith, the incidents that were cited in the leaked emails were not reflective of the Apple that she has been a part of for almost 20 years. While she acknowledged that the company and its employees do at times fall short, Apple had already investigated the issues that were narrated in the report.
"Commensurate actions have been taken," said Young Smith, who added that disciplinary actions could range from informal conversations to outright dismissal from Apple. However, due to privacy concerns, she was not able to reveal information on the specific actions done in each of the cases.
The unfortunate consequence of the leaked emails and the reports that followed, according to Young Smith, is that Apple may have lost the trust of others. She will also be looking to continue the women-at-Apple mailing list, which was the source of the leaked emails, as there needs to be a safe place in Apple for its employees to talk about such issues.
In addition, according to Young Smith, the perceived indifference of Cook due to him not replying to emails on the issue is not true.
"In the midst of all this, he was deep down with all of us to understand what has transpired and what can we learn," she said, while Cook had to attend a board meeting and oversee the launch of the iPhone 7.
