Some Apple employees are circulating a petition demanding an investigation into a ‘misogynistic’ new hire.
'We demand a probe into how his published views on women and people of color were overlooked or ignored.'
When Apple makes hiring (or firing) decisions, it may cause a stir in the media, as it is accustomed to. Although, in this case, the conditions are certainly not ideal.
UPDATE (May 12, 2021): Following an employee petition calling for an investigation into Antonio García Martnez's hiring, Apple has announced that he is no longer with the company.
The original article can be found here:
A group of Apple employees has started circulating a petition inside the company's ranks calling for the investigation of a recent new recruit, as first mentioned by The Verge today. Antonio Garcia Martnez, a former product manager at Facebook, recently joined Apple. Garcia Martnez is also the author of the contentious book Chaos Monkeys, where the problems begin.
According to the petition, employees are concerned about Garcia Martnez's public opinions on people of color and women. His hiring "calls into question aspects of our structure of inclusion at Apple, including hiring committees, background checks, and our mechanism to ensure our current culture of inclusion is robust enough to withstand individuals who don't share our inclusive values," according to the petition.
Recently, an excerpt from Garcia Martnez's aforementioned book has been making the rounds on Twitter. According to the excerpt, women in San Francisco are "soft and frail, cosseted and naive despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of shit," as shared by Devon (@Devonbl).
According to the original report:
"From 2011 to 2013, Garcia Martnez, who has also written for Wired, was the project manager for Facebook's ad targeting team. The majority of the issues that Apple workers have expressed concern about originate from Chaos Monkeys. (The book is dedicated to "every single one of my foes.") Garcia Martnez's autobiography follows him from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. The book is characterized by Garcia Martnez as "absolute Hunter S. Thompson/Gonzo mode." Employees, according to the petition, see it differently: it's racist and sexist.
The workforce in Silicon Valley has always been predominantly white and male. Some in Silicon Valley, such as infamous ex-Googler James Damore, believe this is due to the fact that women and people of color lack the inherent qualities needed to succeed in tech. However, sex discrimination cases following sex discrimination lawsuits show that underrepresented groups have been stopped from succeeding.
According to Apple's most recent diversity survey, women make up 40% of the company's workers. Apple has yet to issue a public comment on the matter, but as the story continues to gain traction, it's only a matter of time before they make a decision.
