Apple fired the father of the viral YouTuber

[Rafterman]

I can only hope that for the people being harsh to this guy, when you make a mistake, your company is as equally harsh to you, and everyone as is as understanding to you as you are all being to this engineer.

It's always easier to play poker with other people's chips.

 

[alee]

I can only hope that for the people being harsh to this guy, when you make a mistake, your company is as equally harsh to you, and everyone as is as understanding to you as you are all being to this engineer.

I hope it’s more a sobering moment for everyone here. Conduct on the Internet, misunderstanding of rules, and other stuff that may seem benign have impact far worse than many here clearly ever imagined. It may seem like something harmless to you but your employer (and the world) has rules for a reason.

 

[giggles]

I can only hope that for the people being harsh to this guy, when you make a mistake, your company is as equally harsh to you, and everyone as is as understanding to you as you are all being to this engineer.

It's always easier to play poker with other people's chips.

This is a billion dollar mistake.

iPhone is apple’s main asset. Apple should be renamed “iPhone Inc.”.

Showing an iPhone outside of a controlled environment (btw PatentlyApple guy has it all wrong because of this) before it’s available retail spoils the day-1 buying experience for millions of customers.

It may sound harsh but I think they should sue him.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Apple was right in firing the employee.

 

[superben79]

this is the best explanation i heard since the beginning of mankind

I think dad allowed daughter to do this because he wanted to be fired. I noticed in her youtube video explaining that he was fired, she stated his job title, mentioned he was working on iPhone X, hinted he was a long time employee, vouched for his character, and stated his family status. She was selling him. I've heard that dad probably signed an agreement when he was hired not to go to a tech company and share Apple secrets. However, I bet he finds a legal way to get even better job. This could have been planned from the beginning. He could have been unhappy about something at work. He is getting his resume circulated far more better than if he had just quit and tried to find a job.

 

[tatsuki]

I am a pretty soft hearted person but even I would have fired this guy. It's too big a violation of security to go unpunished, like others have pointed out letting this slide sets a precedent that you don't want to set. As for the girl I am afraid she needs to learn to take some responsibility for her actions, or even, god forbid, think before she acts. Her five minutes of YouTube fame will be over in a few weeks, the rest of her video content is infantile and boring, the only legacy of her actions will be the memory that she got her dad fired from one of the best jobs he could have had.

 

[Rafterman]

This is a billion dollar mistake.

iPhone is apple’s main asset. Apple should be renamed “iPhone Inc.”.

Showing an iPhone outside of a controlled environment (btw PatentlyApple guy has it all wrong because of this) before it’s available retail spoils the day-1 buying experience for millions of customers.

It may sound harsh but I think they should sue him.

The phone is out in 6 days. Nothing was revealed that other companies don't already know. If it had been done in June, it might be different.

People ar too quick to say "oh, just fire them", They are the kinds that think an employee should be fired if they got their fast food order wrong. Sin and stones come to mind.

 

[rsxmachine]

From a legal perspective the father is lucky to just be fired. How do these people have no idea that if she release a video of an Unreleased Apple product it will garner a lot of attention.

The phone is out in 6 days. Nothing was revealed that other companies don't already know. If it had been done in June, it might be different.

People ar too quick to say "oh, just fire them", They are the kinds that think an employee should be fired if they got their fast food order wrong. Sin and stones come to mind.

if it had been done in June, this guy and their family would be homeless now.

 

[Zxxv]

Stop making it so personal with the all caps. Geez, again I sense there is more hate for the fact that he had the privilege of working there more than anything else.

Personal. You've obviously not read an NDA or any other official document. All caps

 

[Hoosier317]

The phone is out in 6 days. Nothing was revealed that other companies don't already know. If it had been done in June, it might be different.

People ar too quick to say "oh, just fire them", They are the kinds that think an employee should be fired if they got their fast food order wrong. Sin and stones come to mind.

Seriously? This isn’t difficult. He violated the terms of his employment by allowing his (adult) daughter to do what she did AND to do it on the Apple campus. Not to mention:

The video itself may have seemed like an innocent hands-on, but it did include footage of an iPhone X with special employee-only QR codes. A notes app was also shown on the iPhone X in the video, which appeared to include codenames of unreleased Apple products. Filming on Apple’s campus is strictly prohibited, so filming an unreleased iPhone X is a definite rule violation.

 

[macsplusmacs]

When watching the video I could not believe how non chalant the dad was. THIS PHONE WAS UNDER NDA!!!

I further could not believe what an idiot the kid and he were in that video.

Then I found out they got fired and I laughed my butt off for 5 minutes.

For whatever reason he spoiled little Verucca Salt with his NDA'd phone and paid the correct price.

The dad knew the rules.

I just wish the kid could have been fired as well.LOL!

 

[joeblow7777]

I’m not sure how they were unaware of the rules. Even we know it was against Apple policy. Also, she should be the one taking responsibility since she’s the one who made the video and posted it.

Well Apple can't exactly fire her, now can they.

Besides, if the father is an Apple employee who in all likelihood signed confidentiality agreements, and he was entrusted with the phone, he is absolutely the one responsible.

 

[MsRandall]

I actually feel sorry for her and her father

But rules are rules and as long as you know rules and the consequences of breaking them - then Apple had to be consistent

 

[Eggtastic]

I feel sorry for myself not jumping on the youtube ban-wagon 5-7 years ago to make a tech review / gaming / blog channel that can make me a lot of $$$.

Someone mentioned publicity stunt to get fired and also have his name out there for other companies to snatch him up: believable but a stretch. Dad probably just wanted to make his daughter happy by letting her do her thing.

 

[Volusia]

Welcome to the real world boys and girls. If you blatantly violate a work place rule you are subject to termination, not a time out or a do over.

 

[macfacts]

I feel bad for Apple employees, looks like they like they work in a dictatorship. Also looks like Apple has no "rockstar" workers, only replaceable cogs of a machine if they can be fired so easily. No wonder ios11 is such mess.

Also, if Tim wants zero tolerance for breaking rules, he should shut up about transgender issues and which bathroom they should go into, issues about gay marriage and marriage equality. Rules are rules.

 

[myscrnnm]

Someone mentioned publicity stunt to get fired and also have his name out there for other companies to snatch him up: believable but a stretch. Dad probably just wanted to make his daughter happy by letting her do her thing.

Yeah, I still feel like that theory is too much of a stretch. Getting the publicity is one thing, but the fact that the publicity was a result of a blatant misregard for a legally binding contract that you made shows potential employers that this guy cannot be trusted to keep important secrets.

 

[ZombiePete]

I can only hope that for the people being harsh to this guy, when you make a mistake, your company is as equally harsh to you, and everyone as is as understanding to you as you are all being to this engineer.

It's always easier to play poker with other people's chips.

I work for the federal government; if I “make a mistake” with federal information I can go to jail. We’re trained regularly and with great clarity how to handle information, and I can’t imagine Apple is any different.

The old adage “when in doubt...” comes to mind.

 

[giggles]

I like the “suicide by vlog” theory, even if it’s a stretch.

You don’t get to that position being dumb and careless, one would think.

 

[Complex757]

He signed a non disclosure [shrug]

 

[giggles]

The phone is out in 6 days. Nothing was revealed that other companies don't already know. If it had been done in June, it might be different.

People ar too quick to say "oh, just fire them", They are the kinds that think an employee should be fired if they got their fast food order wrong. Sin and stones come to mind.

I never mentioned “other companies”.

This is a marketing/hype damage. The smell of unboxing the X on November 3rd is ruined forever, for everybody. Won’t be as “fresh”. This may sound ridicolous but that’s the reality of things. Whatever dent this makes in the sales, even minuscule, it’s still a lot of money and probably more than this guy is worth.

 

[ZombiePete]

I like the “suicide by vlog” theory, even if it’s a stretch.

You don’t get to that position being dumb and careless, one would think.

You might be surprised. I’ve had a lot of very good technical people (network engineers, software devs, etc.) working for me who were very smart technically and then very dumb in other ways. Socially awkward, stupid with money, no sense of professionalism in the work environment, stuff like that.

It’s possible this guy is a great engineer and otherwise doesn’t have much sense. Or maybe where his daughter is involved he’s a huge pushover. It’s hard to say from a tiny snippet from their lives on YouTube.

 

[DreamPod]

The phone is out in 6 days. Nothing was revealed that other companies don't already know.

Well, aside from all the secret projects at Apple that the video revealed the existence of...

 

[KhunJay]

Whats new....two idiots making fools of themselves on social media because their urge to appear cool overtook any good sense.

The only positive thing seems to be that she said her old man got a locked in offer...I presume that means a confirmed job.

He looked like he was in his 60s, so must consider himself very lucky...hope he's more careful hanging out with his ditzy daughter.
Especially when she's recording video.

 

[44267547]

I think he will get hired again. His in intent wasn't malicious at all. he made an honest mistake and I think people at other tech companies with children will totally understand. everyone deserves a second chance.

He may get hired again elsewhere, but this is going to follow him wherever he goes. And it's going to be known, because this went viral. So naturally I'm sure he will find some other type of employment, but it's the incident that's going to follow him around that most will be aware of.