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Ex-Apple Engineer Cher Scarlett No Longer Withdrawing U.S. Labor Agency Complaint Against Apple

Former Apple engineer Cher Scarlett is no longer withdrawing her complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, which alleged that the tech giant retaliated against employees who discussed pay, hours or working conditions. 

Scarlett, who led a pay equity and transparency effort within the company and helped spearhead the employee-activist group #AppleToo, quit in November after reaching a “private settlement” with the company. As part of the resolution, Scarlett agreed to withdraw her September complaint and would receive a one-year severance package. Apple, in turn, agreed to publicly acknowledge employees’ rights to discuss their salaries. However, Scarlett tells Forbes the company has failed to execute in good faith. 

 “One of the requests I made was for there to be a very public, visible affirmation that employees are allowed to discuss their workplace conditions and compensation, both internally and externally,” Scarlett said in a phone interview on Thursday. Apple did publish language on its internal human resources page acknowledging employees’ rights to discuss pay, but it was posted on November 19, the Friday before the company’s annual Thanksgiving vacation. “It was only up for a week that they gave everybody in the company off,” Scarlett says. Further, it was removed by the following Monday when most people were back at work.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Scarlett also stated that Apple refused to make 22 changes to the settlement document as requested by the NLRB. In one paragraph of the settlement document, Apple requested that Scarlett “not solicit, encourage or incite anyone to file any charge or complaint with any administrative agency or Court against Apple,” for one year following the execution of the settlement. The NLRB requested that Apple strike “encourage or incite” from that paragraph. 

The settlement language “was suppressive of my rights to help other employees organize, help them file charges if they’ve been wronged or witnessed unlawful activity,” Scarlett says. Due to Apple’s decision to not change the settlement language, the NLRB rejected Scarlett’s withdrawal request, as part of the process. She states she will not submitting another withdrawal request.

According to Scarlett, Apple likely will no longer pay her severance in full since she has discussed the terms of her settlement publicly. So far, the company had paid less than half of a year’s worth of severance. 

Scarlett is one of hundreds of young tech workers who are becoming increasingly activist and vocal about their companies’ stances on a variety of issues, from hiring and diversity to policy and social justice. 

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