TikToking Apple employee fired over medical leave, not videos

Posted:
in General Discussion edited December 2022
After a tumultuous August, TikToker and former Apple hardware engineer Paris Campbell has again shared a video. This time, she's claiming she was wrongfully terminated over medical leave related to COVID.

Credit: Laurenz Heymann/Unsplash
Credit: Laurenz Heymann/Unsplash


Campbell first rose to prominence in August after she released a video explaining why you should never remove Activation Lock from a stolen iPhone.

Later that same month, she returned to TikTok stating that the company had contacted her, telling her to take the video down. If she didn't, Campbell was threatened with disciplinary action "up to and including termination."

Now, the Tiktoker has released a third video, informing viewers that Apple had fired her in mid-December -- but not over her videos.

As it turns out, Campbell had been placed on extended medical leave as part of Apple's dedication to employees impacted by COVID. Campbell had tested positive for COVID three times before her termination.

"The whole reason that they were trying to fire me in the first place wasn't because of a TikTok video," she says.

"For the last year, I have been on a medical leave that Apple put into place for people who had COVID, or had long COVID, or had complications from COVID, and then this past Friday, they finally fired me for that leave."



The company had allegedly sent numerous letters to her former address, which had burned down earlier in the year, requesting medical documentation to validate her extended medical leave.

She notes that the company knew she did not live at her former address and believes this was done intentionally to prevent her from providing documentation.

"I believe they may have done this as a way of giving me no options to attempt to keep my job, because they then conveniently e-mailed me my termination letter at the end, instead of sending it to my old address," Campbell told The Daily Dot.

Campbell is looking into the possibility of taking legal action against Apple under the pretense of wrongful termination.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    Apple seems to becoming very ham fisted in managing its staff..
    elijahglkrupp9secondkox2grandact73ronn
  • Reply 2 of 23
    For more information, head on over to dramaqueen.com and look her up.  No real story here.
    davllamamacxpresswatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 23
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,786member
    This is HER side of the story. I have a feeling that Apple’s side is very different. 
    9secondkox2llamadewmewatto_cobrajose8964
  • Reply 4 of 23
    JP234 said:
    Unless she was under contract, Apple can terminate her at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all.
    If she was under contract, it's certain that HR ran her termination by Legal, and they cleared it. If she sues, she will fail. Or bankrupt herself trying to combat Apple's $2,000/hr lawyers. Best she can hope for is a lowball settlement.
    For any reason unless it is for being a member of a protected class.
    JP234watto_cobradarkvaderHreb
  • Reply 5 of 23
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,301member
    or was she fired because while she was off on medical leave she was sidelining as a comedian?

    note the website- pariscampbell.com…a striking resemblance.
    davwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 23
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 933member
    No way on this planet did she NOT have a forwarding address filed with the post office so her notices of requested documentation would have gotten to her. I’ve moved and always received my mail, always. 

    She couldn’t back up her exploiting the leave policy and got caught. 

    “ The company had allegedly sent numerous letters to her former address, which had burned down earlier in the year, requesting medical documentation to validate her extended medical leave. ”

    The United States Postal Service would have simply forwarded her mail. And odds are Apple sent registered mail so there’s a record of it being delivered. She’s got nothing and that’s at best. 
    edited December 2022 davllamatokyojimuwatto_cobrajose8964
  • Reply 7 of 23
    JP234 said:
    Unless she was under contract, Apple can terminate her at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all.
    If she was under contract, it's certain that HR ran her termination by Legal, and they cleared it. If she sues, she will fail. Or bankrupt herself trying to combat Apple's $2,000/hr lawyers. Best she can hope for is a lowball settlement.
    Not true.  There are protections in place for employees.  You can't fire a pregnant woman because she's taking time off related to her pregnancy, for example.
    (Well, you could fire her, but you'd lose in court and the pregnant woman would become very rich).
    edited December 2022 ronndarkvader
  • Reply 8 of 23
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,349member
    If we could apply "Stopitparis" to the silly nose rings, that would make for a good start.  (I'm 51, and I don't really care if anyone considers that offensive.  They look stupid even on cows.  And guess what?  So did bell bottoms back in the day.  I call it like it is regardless of generation, and regardless of what's in fashion.  And don't get me started to stupid tattoos!)

    Next, while I admit that it could be her fault for having forgotten to setup mail forwarding, that's an unknown.  What I do know is that mail thieves are everywhere in California and the police do NOTHING about it.  That's true even if your house wasn't burned down.  My parents caught such a thief on their front door camera, but again, nothing can be done.  To me, that's absolutely insane.

    But here's what else is insane.  I don't care how large Apple is.  If you as an employer mail important documents to your employee and you don't get a reply, that employer had better darned well sent somebody to talk to her in person while she's at work to reconfirm what's going on.  She must have come into the office at least once during the time those documents had been sent.  

    Yeah, it's that simple.  "Hi, Paris.  I'm afraid you haven't responded to the documents we mailed you and..."  Just a quick conversation like that would have cleared it all up.  No, there is no red tape excuse for NOT doing that.  The only reason is that Apple has gotten so large it things it doesn't have to do that.  Sorry, but I buy Apple devices for their beauty, function and for the HUMAN TOUCH.  That should extend to their own employees.

    Seems like a failure to communicate properly lies at the heart of this.  That remains true even if she may have done other naughty things in the company that set some people against her.  They still should have verbally communicated something about the documents sent to her, and allowed her to obtain hardcopies by hand when she then says, "I never received them."
    OferelijahgronnCluntBaby92
  • Reply 9 of 23
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,091member
    https://twitter.com/stopitparis?s=21&t=uN0LIP7pWvTnGD6Qbz8B0A

    She seems to be highly active while claiming COVID-related medical leave.  Including doing live stand up comedy.  I’m sure Apple’s lawyers have already screen grabbed everything

    Go ahead and sue!  
    davllamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 23
    Skepticism is good. However it should be applied to both sides of a disagreement - especially if all of the facts are not known, and especially to the side you are inclined to believe. 
    dewmewatto_cobrakimberly
  • Reply 11 of 23
    davdav Posts: 115member
    Having a TikTok account ought to be grounds for firing.
    darbus69watto_cobrakimberly
  • Reply 12 of 23
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Hedware said:
    Apple seems to becoming very ham fisted in managing its staff..
    A former, now disgruntled employee who got her, err, things in a wringer, would never make this shit up, right?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 23
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    jdw said:
    If we could apply "Stopitparis" to the silly nose rings, that would make for a good start.  (I'm 51, and I don't really care if anyone considers that offensive.  They look stupid even on cows.  And guess what?  So did bell bottoms back in the day.  I call it like it is regardless of generation, and regardless of what's in fashion.  And don't get me started to stupid tattoos!)

    Next, while I admit that it could be her fault for having forgotten to setup mail forwarding, that's an unknown.  What I do know is that mail thieves are everywhere in California and the police do NOTHING about it.  That's true even if your house wasn't burned down.  My parents caught such a thief on their front door camera, but again, nothing can be done.  To me, that's absolutely insane.

    But here's what else is insane.  I don't care how large Apple is.  If you as an employer mail important documents to your employee and you don't get a reply, that employer had better darned well sent somebody to talk to her in person while she's at work to reconfirm what's going on.  She must have come into the office at least once during the time those documents had been sent.  

    Yeah, it's that simple.  "Hi, Paris.  I'm afraid you haven't responded to the documents we mailed you and..."  Just a quick conversation like that would have cleared it all up.  No, there is no red tape excuse for NOT doing that.  The only reason is that Apple has gotten so large it things it doesn't have to do that.  Sorry, but I buy Apple devices for their beauty, function and for the HUMAN TOUCH.  That should extend to their own employees.

    Seems like a failure to communicate properly lies at the heart of this.  That remains true even if she may have done other naughty things in the company that set some people against her.  They still should have verbally communicated something about the documents sent to her, and allowed her to obtain hardcopies by hand when she then says, "I never received them."
    If you are on extended medical leave, there is documentation required by HR and it is the responsibility of the employee to provide it. If there is an issue with providing it the employee should be communicating with the company. The recipient of the benefit is responsible for initiating contact and providing the appropriate information. Company communications are a courtesy and are first an attempt to help the employee. At the end of the process it’s to cover their asses as they document their final steps. 
    llamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 23
    Took a YEAR and expected to have a job? 

    The postal system DOES have the ability to return undeliverable mail. 

    And it’s hard to believe they were never contacted by text, phone or email. 

    Talk about entitlement. 

    Everyone plays the victim these days. If you’re healthy enough to make Tik tok videos, you’re healthy enough to work a desk job. The girl seems pretty dang spry , healthy, and animated in her videos, even takes the time to make photos of herself, then collages of those photos, then alpha channel videos, then edit them together, etc. dang. She should have been fired long ago. 
    edited December 2022 llamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 23
    JP234 said:
    Unless she was under contract, Apple can terminate her at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all.
    If she was under contract, it's certain that HR ran her termination by Legal, and they cleared it. If she sues, she will fail. Or bankrupt herself trying to combat Apple's $2,000/hr lawyers. Best she can hope for is a lowball settlement.
    Firing someone during a medical leave is a very stupid thing to do.  She has a valid case against Apple, and she will prevail since she can prove they had her correct address, but intentionally sent mail to her old residence, that burned down in a fire.  
    ronn
  • Reply 16 of 23
    The company had allegedly sent numerous letters to her former address, which had burned down earlier in the year, requesting medical documentation to validate her extended medical leave.

    She notes that the company knew she did not live at her former address and believes this was done intentionally to prevent her from providing documentation.
    So apparently she never filed a change of address form with the post office? Surely anybody who has to relocate even temporarily would do that.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 23
    JP234 said:
    Unless she was under contract, Apple can terminate her at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all.
    If she was under contract, it's certain that HR ran her termination by Legal, and they cleared it. If she sues, she will fail. Or bankrupt herself trying to combat Apple's $2,000/hr lawyers. Best she can hope for is a lowball settlement.
    They can fire her for any legal reason.  If her termination is determined to be retaliation, or over her medical issues, or for any legally protected reason, it's wrongful termination.

    Note that I'm not saying she was wrongfully terminated, I'm just addressing the "any reason" comment.
    ronnwatto_cobramuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 18 of 23
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,301member
    1. It is the employees responsibility to make sure their employer has a current address and contact information…in part to manage benefits etc etc so that is not an accuse.

    2.  For a young person taking a year off for medical leave due to “long-covid” while doing stand-up comedy is not defensible.

    It’s an embarrassment to those on the front lines who had to continue to work after covid.

    She did not go on leave for  pregnancy or to deal with an ill child etc etc.
    llamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 23
    jdw said:
    If we could apply "Stopitparis" to the silly nose rings, that would make for a good start.  (I'm 51, and I don't really care if anyone considers that offensive.  They look stupid even on cows.  And guess what?  So did bell bottoms back in the day.  I call it like it is regardless of generation, and regardless of what's in fashion.  And don't get me started to stupid tattoos!)
    Ok boomer! 
  • Reply 20 of 23
    davidwdavidw Posts: 2,057member
    jdw said:
    If we could apply "Stopitparis" to the silly nose rings, that would make for a good start.  (I'm 51, and I don't really care if anyone considers that offensive.  They look stupid even on cows.  And guess what?  So did bell bottoms back in the day.  I call it like it is regardless of generation, and regardless of what's in fashion.  And don't get me started to stupid tattoos!)

    Next, while I admit that it could be her fault for having forgotten to setup mail forwarding, that's an unknown.  What I do know is that mail thieves are everywhere in California and the police do NOTHING about it.  That's true even if your house wasn't burned down.  My parents caught such a thief on their front door camera, but again, nothing can be done.  To me, that's absolutely insane.

    But here's what else is insane.  I don't care how large Apple is.  If you as an employer mail important documents to your employee and you don't get a reply, that employer had better darned well sent somebody to talk to her in person while she's at work to reconfirm what's going on.  She must have come into the office at least once during the time those documents had been sent.  

    Yeah, it's that simple.  "Hi, Paris.  I'm afraid you haven't responded to the documents we mailed you and..."  Just a quick conversation like that would have cleared it all up.  No, there is no red tape excuse for NOT doing that.  The only reason is that Apple has gotten so large it things it doesn't have to do that.  Sorry, but I buy Apple devices for their beauty, function and for the HUMAN TOUCH.  That should extend to their own employees.

    Seems like a failure to communicate properly lies at the heart of this.  That remains true even if she may have done other naughty things in the company that set some people against her.  They still should have verbally communicated something about the documents sent to her, and allowed her to obtain hardcopies by hand when she then says, "I never received them."
    >The company had allegedly sent numerous letters to her former address, which had burned down earlier in the year, requesting medical documentation to validate her extended medical leave.


    And Apple was not sending her important documents, Apple was sending her a reminder or notice requesting her, to provide Apple with the proper documentation that allowed her to be on medical leave (or to remain on medical leave). Only she can provide those documents. You're an engineer working for Apple (most likely making 6 figures) and you need to be reminded that you are required to summit (to your employer) the proper medical documentation in order to take advantage of your employers medical leave plan?  And this after being on medical leave for most of the year? Most likely Apple had already taken the easy route and emailed her that request and still got no response. I bet she'll blame that on the email "junk filter",  so she can claim that she never got those request either. Not receiving a reminder that you need to turn in the proper documentation to be on medical leave, is not an excuse for not having them already turned in, in nearly a year. Unless she don't have the proper medical documentation.  


    It's a burnt down home. The Post Office is not going to leave mail in what is most likely still a vacant burnt down home, so mail thieves can steal it. The mail will be returned to sender, unless there's a forwarding address. And more than likely, some of those numerous mail was sent Certified and required a signature before it can be left at the address. 


    >"For the last year, I have been on a medical leave that Apple put into place for people who had COVID, or had long COVID, or had complications from COVID, and then this past Friday, they finally fired me for that leave."<

    She haven't been at work for close to a year. She is on an extended medical leave program that Apple set up for employees with Covid or still suffering from symptoms afterwards. So how was Apple suppose to add a HUMAN TOUCH, by contacting her while at work?



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