Unhappy with grievance redressal, Apple employee resigns; says company’s ‘insensitivity’ affected his ‘mental health’

Shared by a Twitter user named @SaffronSalim, the tweet claims that the disgruntled Apple employee (unidentified in the post) worked at Apple India for more than 11 years in various capacities like Sales, Trade etc. Faced with some serious difficulties at workplace, the employee reported to the company’s HR, which, according to him, went unaddressed. The episode forced him to resign from the world’s most valuable company, taking a toll on his mental health, he claims.

The employee has shared a LinkedIn post narrating the incident where he says “I raised a grievance with HR regarding some serious accusations such as mental harassment, abusive language, a possible business misconduct, Islamophobic comments.”

“I was asked to “trust the system” and was assured of a proper investigation….But after 2 months of supposedly “thorough” investigation the #employeerelations comes back with nothing but denial, insensitivity, counter accusations and ended up ridiculing my mental health and family issues,” he says in the post.

Mint could not independently verify the tweet and the user. We also contacted Apple India and are yet to receive an official statement.

Here’s the full text of the LinkedIn post as shared in the tweet:

Yes! I just resigned from the world’s most valuable company without a job in hand!

I loved working for #apple. It helped me and my family to re-establish ourselves after my father’s demise. It made me a better professional, a better person. I ended up dedicating a third of my life to this amazing organisation.

But (first time in 11 years) I raised a grievance with HR regarding some serious accusations such as mental harassment, abusive language, a possible business misconduct, #Islamophobic comments and also called out some dumb managerial errors that left me and my family living out of a suitcase for 4 months and then ended up causing a butterfly effect of #mentalhealth issues for all of us.

I was asked to “trust the system” and was assured of a proper investigation.

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

But after 2 months of supposedly “thorough” investigation the #employeerelations comes back with nothing but denial, insensitivity, counter accusations and ended up ridiculing my mental health and family issues.

Until then I assumed that my battle was against the few gentlemen that I accused. I wasn’t prepared that I would be met with some kind of legal deposition. It seemed like the Employee Relations Executive was hellbent on protecting the company and management’s interest -not the employee.

I was bullied with statements from the ER ridiculing my mental health saying “If you want Apple to acknowledge that your mental health issue’s happened because of Apple – then I’m sorry. We are not medical experts.”

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.”

When I asked about the Islamophobic comments – the ER said that none of my statements/incidents were substantiated by other employees. This is when I understood that there was never an investigation, this was some major corporate cover up.

Now I had a tough choice. Either fight against these bullies or choose to handle a family emergency. I preferred to walk away as my family needed me more than my will to fight back against the corporate giant. I resigned the very next day.

Updated: 12 Jun 2023, 05:27 PM IST

Shared by a Twitter user named @SaffronSalim, the tweet claims that the disgruntled Apple employee (unidentified in the post) worked at Apple India for more than 11 years in various capacities like Sales, Trade etc. Faced with some serious difficulties at workplace, the employee reported to the company’s HR, which, according to him, went unaddressed. The episode forced him to resign from the world’s most valuable company, taking a toll on his mental health, he claims.

The employee has shared a LinkedIn post narrating the incident where he says “I raised a grievance with HR regarding some serious accusations such as mental harassment, abusive language, a possible business misconduct, Islamophobic comments.”

“I was asked to “trust the system” and was assured of a proper investigation….But after 2 months of supposedly “thorough” investigation the #employeerelations comes back with nothing but denial, insensitivity, counter accusations and ended up ridiculing my mental health and family issues,” he says in the post.

Mint could not independently verify the tweet and the user. We also contacted Apple India and are yet to receive an official statement.

Here’s the full text of the LinkedIn post as shared in the tweet:

Yes! I just resigned from the world’s most valuable company without a job in hand!

I loved working for #apple. It helped me and my family to re-establish ourselves after my father’s demise. It made me a better professional, a better person. I ended up dedicating a third of my life to this amazing organisation.

But (first time in 11 years) I raised a grievance with HR regarding some serious accusations such as mental harassment, abusive language, a possible business misconduct, #Islamophobic comments and also called out some dumb managerial errors that left me and my family living out of a suitcase for 4 months and then ended up causing a butterfly effect of #mentalhealth issues for all of us.

I was asked to “trust the system” and was assured of a proper investigation.

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

But after 2 months of supposedly “thorough” investigation the #employeerelations comes back with nothing but denial, insensitivity, counter accusations and ended up ridiculing my mental health and family issues.

Until then I assumed that my battle was against the few gentlemen that I accused. I wasn’t prepared that I would be met with some kind of legal deposition. It seemed like the Employee Relations Executive was hellbent on protecting the company and management’s interest -not the employee.

I was bullied with statements from the ER ridiculing my mental health saying “If you want Apple to acknowledge that your mental health issue’s happened because of Apple – then I’m sorry. We are not medical experts.”

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.”

When I asked about the Islamophobic comments – the ER said that none of my statements/incidents were substantiated by other employees. This is when I understood that there was never an investigation, this was some major corporate cover up.

Now I had a tough choice. Either fight against these bullies or choose to handle a family emergency. I preferred to walk away as my family needed me more than my will to fight back against the corporate giant. I resigned the very next day.

Updated: 12 Jun 2023, 05:27 PM IST