Thread by @ashleygjovik

🧵1yr ago today I was an #Apple employee

I was sitting at home, suspended, after I reported Apple to the feds

I complained my office was a triple Superfund toxic waste dump w/out safety testing for over 6yr

& then complained Apple retaliates against employees who report issues

Early that day, it finally occurred to me that Apple had probably been spying on me through my personal iCloud account & Apple devices for 6+ months

No doubt trying to get ahead of me suing them & reporting them to numerous gov agencies

I tweeted abt it

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1435862184785895431

At 2pm I fnd an article abt Apple breaking into a guy's apt & claiming to be the police, searching his stuff & threatening deportation

I tweeted it too, as I'd been live-tweeting all suspension: ashleygjovik.com/archive-of-app…

I got a email frm Apple's "Workplace Violence" 10min later

The goon tried to intimidate me to get on the phone w/ him, but I refused asking for email only, as I'd heard stories abt that being how Apple fires employees & threatens them into an NDA

Instead, I notified NLRB & told Apple I did & live-tweeted it too

My affidavit was nxt day

A couple hrs later, after seven years at Apple, as a well respected & high-ranking Sr Engineering Program Manager

I'm aggressively fired with no explanation

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1446884125865091072

ALJ already ruled my firing wasn't due to my misconduct

9/9 transcript: ashleygjovik.com/sept-9-termina…

I reached out to the reporter I trusted the most & told him what happened

He looked over all the emails & wrote up a detailed "wtaf" article

There was an outcry as it was clearly retaliation by timing alone (I had reported Apple to NLRB, DOL, SEC, etc)
gizmodo.com/apple-fires-pr…

A wk later, I'd get a batshit crazy letter frm one of Apple's law firms, still not directly saying why I was fired, but inferring it was cause I complained abt Apple's gross invasions of employee privacy

Fun fact: that itself is an unlawful firing in Cali
gizmodo.com/apple-wanted-h…

I have open cases with NLRB, US DOL (SOX, CERCLA, OSHA), CA DOL, and more

Even after I was fired, I kept asking US EPA abt my office - but they refused to answer

So I submitted FOIA requests & they took 1/2 a yr to respond, but when they did... oh boy

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1564406993791553537

I'd learn EPA told Apple they're going to inspect my office in July (mandatory), before I was suspended

EPA inspected Aug 19, while I was suspended, and found a number of safety issues & ordered follow ups

I was fired even though (or because) I was right

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1530685448552697857

I didn't stop fighting, & I won't stop fighting, cause I know personally about the severe harm this kind of industrial chemical exposure can cause

I never expected Apple, of all companies, to recklessly expose us, cover it up, & then try to destroy me
indexoncensorship.org/2021/12/apple-…

Sometimes, I feel like Apple's taken everything I had from me (even my hair, jfc)

But, most of the things I "lost," I never really had to begin with - I had naïve, neoliberal delusions

I'm angry to have worked for a company who'd treat people so poorly

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1548802338491576321

I feel like the veil lifted, though I wish it was in a less violent & psychotic way

I'd spend the next year dealing with everything frm retaliatory litigation, to home break ins, to threats of violence & assassination, to extensive surveillance & hacking

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1531176997803679744

One would think my lawsuits would be a slam dunk, but I also had to learn the hard way just how rampant Apple's corruption of state & federal governments is

I'd spend the next year filings numerous FOIA & PRA requests & Inspector General complaints
ashleygjovik.substack.com/p/field-notes-…

Ultimately though, I look back on the last two years as a gift (though one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy)

I was able to see so quickly, so clearly, how full of bullshit the United States & our corporations really are

I saw their brutality manifested

https://twitter.com/ashleygjovik/status/1443702363299188741