Apple employee in Bengaluru alleges Islamophobia, harassment; quits after HR inaction
An Apple India employee allegedly resigned after the company failed to address issues of 'misconduct, harassment and islamophobic comments from colleagues’.
A man, who claimed to be a former employee at Apple India, has alleged that he was forced to quit after facing workplace harassment, Mint reported. Khalid Parvez took to LinkedIn to share his ordeal and added that he had resigned before securing a new placement. He accused the Apple Bengaluru office’s HR department of bullying and disregard for mental health issues.
He began his post by sharing gratitude for the benefits received from working with the tech giant. However, after raising a ‘grievance related to mental harassment, verbal abuse, Islamophobia and managerial errors’ with the HR for the first time in 11 years of work experience, Parvez shared his disappointment over the inaction. Initially asked to ‘trust the system’, the former sales manager wrote on the employment-focused platform that he was assured of an investigation in the matter.
Read: Indian-origin ex Apple employee gets 3-year prison, fined ₹157 cr
“All I expected to hear was a few words of compassion - empathising with what I went through and some measures to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” he added.
However, after a two-month-long inquiry, Parvez was met with denial and counter-accusations from the employee relations (ER) team, he claimed.
“Until then I assumed that my battle was against the few gentlemen that I accused…It seemed like the ER Executive was hellbent on protecting the company and management’s interest - not the employee,” he continued.
Parvez also alleged that the ER team shirked their responsibility by saying they are ‘not medical experts’ to acknowledge that his mental health issues happened because of Apple.
Read: Psychological violence more common than sexual, physical forms at workplace
“When I asked what if my mental health worsens - the ER replied saying ‘In that case, we would need a doctor’s certificate to ascertain that you are medically fit to work’,” he further wrote.
Parvez said that he realised that a ‘corporate cover-up’ happened when he was informed that the allegations of Islamophobic comments were not corroborated by other workers. “This is when I understood that there was never an investigation..” he added.
Parvez said that he decided to put his family's mental health emergency first and put down his papers the next day.
Read: Easy but crucial actions you must take to build a mentally healthy workplace
Parvez also urged colleagues and other corporate staff to escalate such issues and keep asking questions against discrimination and misconduct. “And please document each and everything,” he concluded with the hashtag “Appletoo”.
Hindustan Times could not independently verify the tweet and the user. Apple India is yet to respond to the allegations.