Employee Claims Apple Has Threatened Termination Over Viral TikTok Video

[Unregistered 4U]

What is TikTok?

It’s one of the troubleshooting steps we use* when fixing grandfather clocks, probably the most important. You just use your ears and listen for the tiktok.

*While I may be employed at Gordy’s Grand Grandfather clocks, I’m speaking for myself and not the company.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I am a former Apple employee, worked as a "Lead Genius" for a number of years. Apple had a very clear policy concerning what you could and could not do outside of work in relation to Apple. You were warned not to post to anything on the internet identifying yourself as an Apple employee as well doing work related to your work at Apple outside of Apple. I once got into some hot water as a neighbor of mine came into one of the stores and brag about me helping her (which was basically answering some Mac related questions) and I was called in by management who thought I was doing support work outside of Apple. So basically, to be on the safe side, employees pretty much did not post things Apple related on the web when you were an employee. They are HIGHLY protective of their brand and their feeling was, if you post something and identify yourself as an employee, you are representing the brand and you are not allowed to do that. I seriously doubt that policy has changed. Apple had certain rules you were best not to cross.

This is fair. She should’ve just taken the post down rather than get herself fired.

 

[DD88]

Not surprised to see how many misogynists exist in the comment section of MacRumors. If anything, she was doing Apple a favor and should be commended for her actions, not reprimanded. This went from positive brand recognition to potentially mixed/negative. Seems like a misstep by a middle manager under pressure from a VP/Director.

Definitely no misogyny from me, I love women but then again I do sleep with around 60 a year

 

[dysamoria]

Think different... so much for that.
I mean just taking the story as is, she didn't even explicitly say she's an "Apple" employee. I mean you would want people to be showing how secure your product is.

With the WFO thing, this, and other things, this "new" Apple seems weird. It feels like an old businessman is taking over the company bit by bit. I mean seriously, I thought Apple is good at marketing. In this situation, it's better to go in officially and take care of the customer, instead of punishing your own employee. Good grief.

That’s the Wall Street conservative corporate culture. Apple are pretty much just another mindless Wall Street corporation anymore.

 

[dysamoria]

Not surprised to see how many misogynists exist in the comment section of MacRumors. If anything, she was doing Apple a favor and should be commended for her actions, not reprimanded. This went from positive brand recognition to potentially mixed/negative. Seems like a misstep by a middle manager under pressure from a VP/Director.

Not surprised, but definitely grossed out.

 

[shplock]

My favourite on forums I visit are people that comment and/or advertise for a company they own or work for. They always put something like "I represent x company but my comments and views are my own". No, they are not. Anything you say is a reflection of the company you represent.

And they wonder why they get fired (and it has happened) for having the views they have!

That is pure BS with respect as what you are saying is nobody as the right to free speech if they are employed as your employer is in control of your mind and all thoughts contained within!
I do not think so somehow, do you?

 

[Nuno Lopes]

The advice she gave WAS/IS Apple customer service advice. Don't remove the iPhone for the Apple ID. The only risk of the 'advice going wrong' is not following it.

If any employe is sanctioned to provide customer service by Apple or any other company to thousands if not millions without explicit permission or specific training, someone will make a mistake at one point ... what then? Who will be liable in covering such mistake?

I'm not saying that she should be immediately fired ... a commission probably evaluates the situation deciding then what to do.

According to the story she was not fired ... her situation is under review and she may be fired or not because of such action ... well then she message her employer on ?TikTok? arguing her point to thousands of followers to see ... stating her job position is threatened for helping “her gang” like some kind of social Diva ... well get the two actions together in my book she should be fired … for the two actions together!

The first one maybe an innocent mistake ... trying to be helpful ... went viral without her control ... the second she is advocating such practice while acting like a prima donna ... making her employer look bad in a situation that was not even created by the company ... but by her own social media ambitions ... plain stupidity!!!

I find the two situations together exposes an unethical modus on her part.

 

[Da_Hood]

The responses here indicate that the movie Idiocracy accurately predicts the future.

 

[whatgift]

While I agree that it's a little overzealous on the part of the manager, if you are giving advice and identifying yourself as an employee then you effectively become the voice for that company. This employee is clearly breaking their employee agreement, just like most workplaces with similar policies, and should be reprimanded as such. There was no reason to identify themselves as an employee in that situation.

 

[973358]

It is stupid if they fire her for such a video. She only educates what is the best solution for the victim.

 

[germinator]

Have to fire peon employees that can’t follow the rules. She’s just another headache for apple at this point.

[I am going with the information I have. I don't know if there is "more to the story"]

What rules? She broke no rules, what B.S.!

Even her critique of Apple's reaction should not be a ground for dismissal.

 

[germinator]

in this day and age though even breathing wrong can get you the sack

Well said and that's what need to change in the US. We definitely need more worker protection.

 

[thalegold]

Well I'm following her on TikTok now!!! I like it!

 

[_Spinn_]

It should be clear by now that having any social media accounts will become a liability sooner or later.

 

[frownface]

This is exactly the way the Wall Street parasites and vampire squids that are increasingly populating the C-Suite at Apple want things. They run the company in a culture of fear, and milk it for everything its worth, including its workplace reputation. They will use that “former reputation“ to mask the real reputation. Those parasites infiltrate the creative and innovative suites within and systematicly destroy them by sucking all the life and oxygen out of the air.

So get used to it Apple affectionado‘s - welcome to the new Apple that is designed from the Wall Street boardroom down with the culture of fear being the primary driver of motivation… check back in about 5 years to see how that worked out for them.

Complete 180 degrees from when Steve Jobs gave that talk about how corporate greed nearly ruined apple.

Something something past mistakes, something repeat something.

 

[Soccertess]

Her manager along with the corporate idiots (HR) really messed this one up. All that will happen now is a B.S PR statement that they were both right but they errored in some way.

But honestly, Apple doesn't value this employee or their customers. All Tim cares about is extra dollar bills and he is laughing at all of you and your dongles he sold you.

 

[svish]

Hope she is not fired!!

 

[shyam09]

Thieves were in China; nuff' said.

 

[recklesslife85]

I think Jobs would have loved this. He was always one for pushing people to think outside of the box and she done that. Tim is the complete opposite. Can't wait for Craig to take over.

Apple could take advantage of this now, millions use Tiktok (no idea why) but it would be forward thinking and ahead of the curve to let her use it as she's got some fame. Another avenue for customer support videos by a known face.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I saw that TikTok! It… only seemed to reinforce what an Apple support document would tell a user to do in that situation. I’m not sure why she’s getting reprimanded! She’s not leaking any secrets nor saying anything bad about Apple….

She’s also not a certified support personnel. Even if the information she was giving out in this case was along Apple’s recommendations, Apple probably wanted to avoid situations where other Apple employees are publicly giving out support advice in case something incorrect was said and Apple was held responsible because of the employee’s association with Apple. I would guess if she didn’t pre-qualify her advice by saying she was an Apple engineer Apple wouldn’t have cared.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I think Jobs would have loved this. He was always one for pushing people to think outside of the box and she done that. Tim is the complete opposite. Can't wait for Craig to take over.

Apple could take advantage of this now, millions use Tiktok (no idea why) but it would be forward thinking and ahead of the curve to let her use it as she's got some fame. Another avenue for customer support videos by a known face.

Jobs was a lot more zealous about protecting Apple’s image and keeping everything internal. People have been let go for a lot less under him. I would actually say Cook has actually opened up Apple a little since he took over. In this case Apple can either leverage her fame officially (in which case she has a right to be compensated or be hired in marketing or PR) or make sure she isn’t representing the company and posting in her capacity as an Apple engineer. The in-between can result in lawsuits or a loss of a cohesive marketing message.

 

[LouisLoh]

That is pure BS with respect as what you are saying is nobody as the right to free speech if they are employed as your employer is in control of your mind and all thoughts contained within!
I do not think so somehow, do you?

Not when you coyly affiliate yourself with the company, and use your position to bolster your reach and credibility. In essence, she all but boasted to be an Apple employee. In this circumstance, she will be perceived by many to represent not just herself, but the company as well.

She has the right to free speech, sure, in a personal capacity. But in this case, it's not unreasonable for anyone to assume that she has identified as an Apple employee and was speaking on behalf of the company.

Also, I am pretty sure her video would have MUCH fewer views if she didn't insinuate she's from Apple.

 

[LeeW]

That is pure BS with respect as what you are saying is nobody as the right to free speech if they are employed as your employer is in control of your mind and all thoughts contained within!
I do not think so somehow, do you?

Not at all, freedom of speech does not apply to everything without risk. In that specific example of forums, if you are a member of a forum representing the company you work for then you are in effect employed by that company when making posts and are bound by whatever contract of employment is in place when commenting from it.

If you want freedom of speech on that forum then have a different, personal account and post your "own views" on that one, not the one you have agreed exists to represent the company you work for.

Not hard really.

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

This is really quite simple...

If you speak about your work publicly one way or another it either falls under public relations or marketing.
Do you work in that departments? Do you follow the company's marketing & PR strategy?
A simple employee stepping in and taking it in their own hands isn't how it works.
Good intentions aren't good enough.

In that particular case she shouldn't have mentioned that she works for Apple... not even indirectly...
If she had started with "as a long term software engineer for mobile devices I recommend"... would have fallen under freedom of speech and expression.
The way she put her post was like "as an Apple engineer" making it sound a bit like it's coming "from Apple" rather than from her personally.

=> If you say something publicly that could possibly be related to your work always start with something like "my personal (yet professional view as someone who has worked in the *whatever* industry - that's fine to say) on... is... that..." If you refer to or mention company products or services that should certainly not be presented negatively affecting the company image. Information should stick to facts (e.g. "the display has a brightness of x nits" rather than "the display is super bright! *omg*")
Never make it look like you are speaking in the capacity of your company (especially not by saying "we" instead of "I") unless approved/coordinated with their marketing/PR.

(That said, IANAL, but thinking about how things can be interpreted by the viewer is something every social media content provider especially those with many followers should -and needs to- think about.)

 

[laptech]

In my opinion the issue is to do with security. Tik-Tok is owned by Chinese company Bytedance who are rumoured to be in cahoots with the Chinese government with regards to accessing Tik-Tok's user database (users personal information, their messages and their videos). This woman has now identified herself as working for Apple which means she could become under the watchful eye of the Chinese government. It is well known that agents working for the Chinese government are used to gain/extract information about people, you know, gain their trust so they open up abit more about who they are and what they do. Apple would now see their employee as a security risk, which is why I think that have acted the way they have towards her.

Twitter is different because it is US owned therefore it's user database is out of the hands of the Chinese government which in my opinion is why Apple does not have a problem with Apple employees identifying themselves on twitter, but Tik-Tok is a totally different matter.