Antonio García Martínez, the author of Chaos Monkeys and an ex-Facebook product manager, has been hired and apparently fired by Apple within a matter of weeks for sentiments expressed in his 2016 Silicon Valley memoir.
The book includes a description of women in the San Francisco Bay Area as “soft and weak, cosseted and naive despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of sh*t.”
Apple employees circulated a petition asking for an investigation, citing his “misogynistic statements” and how these “directly oppose” Cupertino’s commitment to inclusion and diversity. More than 2,000 employees signed the petition. Apple employees also brought up the issue on social media.
I have been gutted, as many other folks at Apple were, with the hiring of Antonio García Martínez.
I believe in the strength of community we have at Apple, & that the culture we've built can weather this. I also believe in leadership to do the right thing, whatever that is.
— Cher Scarlett (@cherthedev) May 12, 2021
Antonio García Martínez no longer works at Apple
It seems Apple management listened and took swift action. Not long after the petition started circulating, Apple deactivated Martínez’s Slack account. Then, the ad platforms team he worked for reportedly convened an emergency meeting. At the meeting, management confirmed that Apple no longer employs Martínez.
“At Apple, we have always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace where everyone is respected and accepted,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “Behavior that demeans or discriminates against people for who they are has no place here.”
According to Martínez’s LinkedIn page, he started at Apple as a member of the team in Product Engineering, Ads Platforms in April. He has not yet updated his status to reflect his departure.
Apple makes inclusivity a focal point of its corporate philosophy. In a 2020 memo, CEO Tim Cook wrote, “We’ve always drawn strength from our diversity, welcomed people from every walk of life to our stores around the world, and strived to build an Apple that is inclusive of everyone. But together, we must do more.”
Source: The Verge
