4 Apple Store Employees Were Fired for Secretly Photographing and Rating Women
Four Apple Store employees in Australia were fired when a women-rating “game” ring they had was discovered by fellow employees. In the wake of disturbing news of Trump’s comments on assaulting women, this news is disheartening, to say the least. Trump’s 2005 comments recorded on a hot mic, which he later dismissed as “locker room talk,” have been disparaged by professional athletes, and yesterday, the FLOTUS also gave a powerful speech (so good, if you haven’t watched it yet!) on the subject. It seems the only good thing that’s come of the situation is that it has people talking about sexual violence.
The four Apple Store employees in Queensland, Australia were caught secretly photographing and rating women who came to the store. These women included customers and even fellow employees. According to Courier-Mail, an Apple staff member gave a statement saying that “one person would take a photo and add it to [a group chat] and others would give the person or their butt or their boobs a rating out of 10.” Disgusting.
Thankfully, the store fired the employees in question, and Apple’s HR has issued the following statement: “We are investigating a violation of Apple’s business conduct policy at our store in Carindale, where several employees have already been terminated as a result of our findings. Based on our investigation thus far, we have seen no evidence that customer data or photos were inappropriately transferred or that anyone was photographed by these former employees. We have met with our store team to let them know about the investigation and inform them about the steps Apple is taking to protect their privacy. Apple believes in treating everyone equally and with respect, and we do not tolerate behavior that goes against our values.”
While Donald Trump is at the forefront of this discussion regarding assault against women — and rightfully so, since he’s running for the office of the president — this recent Apple Store news is a sickening reminder that sexual violence against women is a pervasive problem worldwide.
What do you think should be done about incidents like this? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(h/t Refinery29, photo via Getty + Leon Neal/Getty)