A product manager who joined Apple from Facebook has left after a couple of weeks in the job following an internal backlash. Antonio Garcia Martinez was hired last month. However, concerns were raised over previous comments that were criticized for being racist and sexist.
Apple Employees Raise Concern Over ‘Chaos Monkeys’ Author’s Comments
Mr. Garcia Martinez was meant to work on Apple’s advertising platform team. However, comments made both on social media and in his book Chaos Monkeys, released in 2016, caused concern. They included calling women in Silicon Valley “soft and weak.” Employees at Apple circulated a petition asking the company to explain the hire. Eddy Cue, who oversees Apple’s ads business, as well as executives who work on diversity issues, received a memo from concerned employees. It said:
We demand an investigation into how his published views on women and people of color were missed or ignored, along with a clear plan of action to prevent this from happening again.
As Axios News noted, while we have seen employees at other big technology firms organize, it’s very rare at Apple. An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg News:
At Apple, we have always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace where everyone is respected and accepted. Behavior that demeans or discriminates against people for who they are has no place here.
There had been no public comment from Mr. Garcia Martinez at the time of this writing.
He should have been vetted better. It’s not like he tried to keep this quiet. It’s not like these were whispered accusations. These were his words that he still stands by.