The suit, lodged in California state court, claims Jobs’ Mob minions are forced to relinquish their right to personal privacy.
The company allegedly stated it has the Jobs’ given right to "engage in physical, video and electronic surveillance of staff" even at home and after they stop working for Apple.
These allegations form part of a broader list of Apple employment policies that the lawsuit contends breach California law.
The plaintiff, Amar Bhakta, has been working in advertising technology for Apple since 2020, and said that Apple's privacy policies have damaged his career prospects.
Apple prevented Bhakta from participating in public speaking engagements about digital advertising and compelled him to remove details about his job at Apple from his LinkedIn profile.
"For Apple employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. It is a prison yard. A panopticon where employees, both on and off duty, are subject to Apple’s all-seeing eye," the lawsuit declares.
Apple issued a statement asserting its strong disagreement with the claims. "Every employee has the right to discuss their wages, hours and working conditions, and this is part of our business conduct policy, which all employees are trained on annually," the company said.
Bhakta is represented by Chris Baker of Baker Dolinko & Schwartz and Jahan Sagafi of Outten & Golden. Both lawyers have a history of filing high-profile lawsuits against large technology companies over allegedly illegal employment practices. Baker notably represented Susan Fowler, the former Uber employee who highlighted sexual harassment within the tech industry, and Sagafi has settled a significant class action suit against Uber.
The lawsuit contends that Apple’s policies blur the lines between employees' work and home lives, giving the company extensive insight into their activities beyond their jobs.
According to the suit, Apple mandates that employees use only Apple-made devices for work. Due to restrictions placed on company-owned devices, most employees use Apple devices. These personal devices, linked to their iCloud accounts, are required to run software that enables Apple to monitor virtually all activities on the device, including real-time location data.
Apple's confidential policy, as cited in the lawsuit, states, "If you use your account on an Apple-managed or Apple-owned iPhone, iPad or computer, any data stored on the device (including emails, photos, video, notes and more), are subject to search by Apple."
Former employees have previously voiced concerns about Apple's access to their personal information. The new lawsuit highlights these practices and the specific company policies that allegedly permit them.
To avoid Apple's surveillance, employees could use a work-owned device and a separate iCloud account exclusively for work purposes. However, the lawsuit claims the company "actively discourages" the use of work-only iCloud accounts.
