Apple Responds to Accusations of Executive Creating 'Toxic Workplace'

[thiscatisfat]

What’s even more messed up is that a part of Fitness is mental health and wellbeing. Oh boy oh boy, sounds like they found just the right guy for this. He looks like he can’t wait to bully you for the rest if your carrier because you didn’t want to have your camera on.

 

[Happy_John]

That is 100% irrelevant and not even worthy of discussing. Management shouldn't acting like that and the new employees shouldn't be subject to this guy.

They shouldn't, but to be blunt, a "verbally abusive, manipulative and inappropriate" management style was at Apple from the very beginning. This difference is this Blahnik is 1) not dead, 2) not one of the most well-known names in the IT industry. So Blahnik will get a serious "talking to" behind closed doors and something will be done to give a token settlement to the aggrieved staff, again behind closed doors.

And the rest of the world will forget about this story five minuets later, and will go back to obsessing over the new iPhone rumors.

 

[Chazak]

Have you ever worked for one of the top 5 corpos? This stuff happens. And in Apple’s case, well obviously, Apple will always defend their image first, the higher position person second and HR will always make the people who file complaint feel like they are the problem.

My comment was more about the judgements and things being said in this thread solely on a basis of what is in the article. I am not defending the guy, but I am not making a judgement of guilt for any of the involved based on the article's contents or Apple's corporate behavior.

I know corporate life very well, too well in fact. I detest it and am acutely aware of its toxicity and the negative impact it has on many people.

 

[machpost]

Those 10 employees can now have a good life elsewhere. There aren’t a lack of employees looking to work at Apple

Someday when you're old enough to get a job, maybe Apple will hire you to work for this guy, then you can tell us how it feels.

 

[Happy_John]

Which is no way a justification for having it continue.

No, it's not, but it is a clear indicator that such behavior was tolerated in the past, and makes it more likely that such behaviour will be tolerated in the present.

Pointing this out doesn't condone it, pointing this out is to show this really shouldn't be surprising or shocking.

There's no natural law that states good technology ( or films, or music or anything... ) can only be made by ethically sound people. Polanski made good movies. Lou Reed made good music. Neither are/were "good" people.

The reality is usually the opposite. Jobs was a jerk. Jobs set up a company that is now one of the richest on the planet. These two facts are not unconnected.

 

[turbineseaplane]

No, it's not, but it is a clear indicator that such behavior was tolerated in the past, and makes it more like that such behaviour will be tolerated in the present.

Jobs died 14 years ago ... nothing from his era is really that relevant anymore.

 

[Happy_John]

Jobs died 14 years ago ... nothing from his era is really that relevant anymore.

Well, nothing except the brand, the majority of product ranges, the reputation, the logo ... ( I could go on. )

It is disingenuous to say Job is not relevant in relation to Apple - the Jobs myth has been built up where Steve Jobs and Apple are impossible to separate.

If you disagree, run a search on the form for the term "Jobs", see how many results come up, and also, how recently.

You might as well say Ford no longer has any connection to Henry Ford, or Microsoft has no connection to Bill Gates.

It will take a hell of a lot longer than 14 years for those associative links to break.

 

[dwaltwhit]

From a legal standpoint, Apple is required to continue to employ him until there is proof of wrongdoing. Do I think there is? Probably. But a company can't just not perform due diligence.

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

I don't use Fitness plus, and I think the 'rings' idea is total BS, so his contribution to Apple from my standpoint is entirely negative or inconsequential. "He said, They said" ... not a great look, Apple. 🍸😿

 

[gigatoaster]

His haircut makes him suspicious, though.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It is disingenuous to say Job is not relevant in relation to Apple - the Jobs myth has been built up where Steve Jobs and Apple are impossible to separate.

If you disagree, run a search on the form for the term "Jobs", see how many results come up, and also, how recently.

This has nothing to do with anything on this topic ...

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Yeesh. Would not want to be the Apple employee in charge of going to bat for this guy. Would be a better look on Apple if they swiftly cut him loose.

 

[jaster2]

Apple, do better.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeesh. Would not want to be the Apple employee in charge of going to bat for this guy. Would be a better look on Apple if they swiftly cut him loose.

Even worse is being a forum commenter finding ways to do whataboutism around this.

Every day there seems to be a new way folks find to be defend anything and everything Apple.

I just do not get it.

 

[Happy_John]

This is an irrelevant distraction -- let's move on

It doesn't matter how anything may have gotten where it is now, or been in the distant past -- this behavior is unacceptable, no matter the back story.

Let's stay focused on that.

Surely you agree that this objectively not ok, correct?

Of course it unacceptable. But saying it is unacceptable on a forum will not change that it happens, and has happened within Apple from it's beginnings.

Apple, in terms of how they treat staff and subcontractors, have never been particularly great in terms of "emotional intelligence" for want of a better word). It's seems very naive to point to this now and not acknowledge fully that this has been part of Apple's workplace environment all the way along.

 

[Happy_John]

This has nothing to do with anything on this topic ...

It very much does, as you claiming there is not associative link between Steve Jobs and Apple in 2025, but there obviously is.

 

[vegetassj4]

Apple’s Latest Innovation: The World’s First Lovably Toxic Workplace™

In news that will surprise absolutely no one who’s ever tried to close their Apple Watch rings under penalty of shame, Apple Vice President of Fitness Technologies Jay Blahnik has apparently gone full CrossFit cult leader—except instead of kettlebells, he’s throwing dumbbells of corporate misery.

Reports describe Blahnik’s team as “the most toxic work environment ever seen in a tech company.” That’s right—worse than Uber when they thought HR stood for “Harassment Ready,” worse than Amazon warehouses where water bottles double as restrooms, and yes, even worse than Elon Musk’s group Slack at 3 a.m. on a Sunday.

But here’s the twist: we’re going to love it.

Because unlike other toxic bosses who make you work 80-hour weeks to “disrupt” staplers or “reinvent” paperclips, Blahnik’s chaos comes wrapped in sleek aluminum edges and advertised in Helvetica Neue. When he screams at you for missing a deadline, your Apple Watch will immediately award you a “VO2 Max Spike Achievement.” When he forces you to run laps around Apple Park at 2 a.m., you’ll be comforted by the fact that your heart-rate variability graph will look amazing in Keynote.

And let’s be honest: no other tech company could pull this off. If Microsoft tried, you’d have burnout charts in Excel. At Google, your manager would just “A/B test your emotional resilience” until you quietly left for TikTok. But Apple? Apple can make corporate toxicity aspirational. They’ll call it Fitness+. Work Edition. You’ll line up to subscribe.

So yes, Jay Blahnik may be presiding over Silicon Valley’s newest psychological Thunderdome. But don’t worry—Apple will release a $79.99 polishing cloth to help wipe away the tears. And we’ll buy it. Twice.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

It’s for the lawyers, judges and the discovery process to find out

Only because Apple is protecting him. They already did an internal investigation and paid out on sexual harassment. They want to save face and not pay out again.

 

[sully54]

Workplace toxicity is widespread at Apple, from retail (worked at an Apple retail) to all the way to the top apparently

 

[H. Flower]

I get a similar vibe from Apple Fitness as I do the recent years’ Apple Keynotes. They feel inauthentic and just weird.

It's "jive".

 

[WarmWinterHat]

They shouldn't, but to be blunt, a "verbally abusive, manipulative and inappropriate" management style was at Apple from the very beginning. This difference is this Blahnik is 1) not dead, 2) not one of the most well-known names in the IT industry. So Blahnik will get a serious "talking to" behind closed doors and something will be done to give a token settlement to the aggrieved staff, again behind closed doors.

And the rest of the world will forget about this story five minuets later, and will go back to obsessing over the new iPhone rumors.

Sexual harassment and "inappropriate" behavior are synonymous in this case. They have already paid out out on one of those. Why not just get rid of the guy?

Makes me glad I don't work there, or the tech industry in its entirety. It's looks like nothing except bro culture.

 

[MallardDuck]

So now I know who refuses to let us use our own music playlists in apple fitness workouts.

 

[01cowherd]

From a legal standpoint, Apple is required to continue to employ him until there is proof of wrongdoing. Do I think there is? Probably. But a company can't just not perform due diligence.

What nonsense… In America, Apple can fire anyone they want at any time. At worst, they’d have to pay out a golden parachute if he has a good employment contract.

Apple had no issues firing union organizers (which is actually illegal).

 

[Anonymous123]

From a legal standpoint, Apple is required to continue to employ him until there is proof of wrongdoing. Do I think there is? Probably. But a company can't just not perform due diligence.

I’m not a lawyer, but California is an at-will state—meaning an employer can fire you for any reason at any time, with or without cause.

 

[Happy_John]

Workplace toxicity is widespread at Apple, from retail (worked at an Apple retail) to all the way to the top apparently

It always has been. That's what is being frantically avoided here.

Saying "this is terrible" but not acknowledging that this has been part of Apple since the beginning turns comments into pearl-clutching.

I'd repeat someone for saying "This is unacceptable" and then refusing to use Apple products or give Apple any of their money. But that's not what's happening here. The "outrage" is conveniently sandwiched in between polls of which new iPhone to buy and what rumours there are about next year's products.

Outrage has no value whatsoever unless it is followed up with action.