Judge rules Apple 'unfairly' fired employee who took secret photos of co-worker

A judge has ruled that Apple had “no good reason” to fire an employee who secretly took photos of a female colleague, marking the second time in a month that a British judge has criticized Apple’s firing choices based on its corporate culture.

As reported by The telegraphChristoph Sieberer was caught secretly taking a photo of a co-worker to send to a chat group and another directly to an employee who had a crush on them. In response to the first, Thomas, the employee who had a crush on them, said, “Look at my girlfriend over there…so cute…she’s struggling but still so beautiful.” When Thomas showed the photo to another co-worker, he was reported to management and both Sieberer and Thomas were fired.

Justice Walker, who is presiding over the case, said there was “no reasonable cause” for the dismissal and that there had been “no sexual harassment or stalking”. He argued that while the photos could be seen as an invasion of privacy, “we live in a world where there are cameras in all sorts of places”. While the judgment said the dismissal was unfair, it also said that “this behaviour should not have happened… and is therefore reprehensible”.

Apple will now have to pay compensation, although the exact amount has not yet been revealed.

A larger problem

Just last monthAnother British judge ruled that Apple unfairly dismissed an employee who told a Chinese colleague: “See you in nine months, as long as you don’t spread another deadly disease around the world.”

As The Telegraph points out above, Apple has made a number of changes to how it handles “toxic workplaces” in 2022, heightening tensions between the tech giant and the UK courts. At Sieberer’s hearing, the judge claimed that Apple’s policies were “vague” and could not be clearly understood by employees. It’s unclear how this will affect management decisions regarding Apple’s UK workplaces in the future.