The hot water in which the National Labor Relations Board has been boiling Apple is getting deeper, as the US workers’ rights body has issued yet another unfair labor practice complaint alleging the constructive termination of developer and labor activist Cher Scarlett in 2021.
Scarlett played a central role in the #AppleToo movement that sought to expose unfair working conditions as well as harassment and the banning of pay discussions among corporate workers at the iGiant’s Cupertino HQ in California.
It’s been more than three years since Scarlett first brought the matter to NLRB, arguing Apple had broken the law. Over the course of 2021 and 2022 she lodged three separate complaints that, according to the NLRB, asserted Apple maintained “an over-broad confidentiality rule,” and interfered with discussions of pay – including on Slack, with the press, and in an employee-initiated wage survey.
Scarlett claimed Apple banned any discussion of pay between employees – which would be a pretty cut-and-dry violation of the National Labor Relations Act, specifically section 8(a)(1).
Ultimately, according to the NLRB, Scarlett was illegally forced out in 2021 for organizing the aforementioned wage survey and other labor activity at Apple. The NLRB alleges Scarlett was terminated “constructively” – which refers to a practice of creating a workplace so hostile that employees resign rather than put up with the treatment.
The board has now determined [PDF] that her concerns were warranted, and her case is headed for an administrative hearing next year.
Failed attempt
Part of the reason it has taken so long for this to get before an administrative judge, Scarlett told The Register in a phone interview, is a failed settlement attempt between herself and the iPhone maker in late 2021, shortly after her termination.
In a final bid to silence her, Apple is said to have given Scarlett the option to take paid administrative leave, provided she stopped tweeting about Apple executives (because, according to the complaint, the tweets were giving them “a headache”).
“I desperately needed [the leave] because I was being harassed both internally and externally by other Apple employees,” Scarlett told us. “I was like, yeah sure, I can shut my mouth if I can have a break from this.”
Those settlement terms didn’t sit well with the NLRB when it learned of them. The regulator refused to accept the separation agreement because it was unlawful – it included requirements that Scarlett stop speaking out, and not organize Apple employees or assist them in filing labor complaints, the ex-Appler told us.
Settlement unlikely
The hearing is set for June 2025 if the matter isn’t settled between now and then. The NLRB is seeking to force Apple to ensure the board’s labor rights posters are hung up in appropriate places, and also wants to force the iGiant to hold training for managers, supervisors, and employees on the rights of employees.
In addition, the NLRB is asking Apple to apologize to Scarlett, expunge the termination from its records, reimburse her for losses incurred as a result of her termination, plus back wages, and reinstate her “to her former job [or] to a substantially equivalent position.”
Would Scarlett take such an offer if Apple and the NLRB actually settled on those terms? “Absolutely,” she told us – and she wouldn’t skip a beat when it comes to organizing for Apple employees working alongside her at the mothership.
A lot of people really relied on me because they were afraid to be the face of anything
“A lot of people really relied on me because they were afraid to be the face of anything,” Scarlett explained. “There have been some changes [at Apple] but overall, I don’t think employees feel safe to speak out.”
“There’s so many really great people [at Apple] who really care about the work that they’re doing [but] they aren’t sure what they’re allowed to talk about and what they’re not allowed to talk about,” she continued. “I completely understand the line and it scares me that it’s not even just blurry for these employees – it’s actually making them feel isolated and not know if they can even talk to a lawyer or a labor agency like the NLRB if they think something is illegal because they think it violates their NDA.”
Scarlett told us that her case will be heard well after ones from her fellow ex-Apple employees Ashley Gjovik, whose case was scheduled for an NLRB hearing in January and centers on claims the Apple handbook and other company policies are illegal, and Janneke Parrish, who was also allegedly axed for her participation in the #AppleToo movement.
Apple didn’t respond to our questions, but did tell Reuters last month, after the NLRB’s complaint over Parrish’s termination was filed, that “we strongly disagree with these claims and will continue to share the facts at the hearing.” With Apple apparently not inclined to settle that case, Scarlett will likely have to wait until next summer, at the earliest, for a resolution of hers. ®
