A longtime Apple employee claimed she was unlawfully fired after complaining to higher-ups that a jilted male co-worker threatened to kill her, according to a lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
Jayna Richardson Whitt, who worked for the tech titan from 2006 until earlier this year, alleged Apple retaliated against her after it learned of her “domestic abuse victim status” by turning her down for higher-level positions and ultimately firing her.
The patent lawyer, a single mother of Asian-American descent, claimed discrimination at the company was rampant in the lawsuit filed Dec. 20 in California Superior Court in San Mateo.
Supervisors “favored Caucasian males and subjected minorities, females, and employees with disabilities to discriminatory treatment,” according to the complaint.
She is seeking unspecified compensation for economic losses and emotional distress.
Whitt rose to the position of director of IP transactions at the Cupertino, Calif.-based company and was dating a white colleague, whom she identified as Ted, in an April blogpost. But the relationship turned toxic and she wrote that Ted “sent threatening texts, saying he was going to kill my dog, my children, and me,” according to the blog.
“I had no idea what to do. I feared for my life. Ted was armed and possibly involved with a drug ring,” Whitt said in her essay, in which she revealed the colleague had once proposed to her.
Her terror increased after Ted allegedly breached her iPhone and digital accounts. She asked Apple management for help securing her info, but the company turned her down and left her “defenseless,” according to her complaint.
Whitt’s blogpost accused Apple of retaliation and discrimination, leading the company to launch an investigation into her conduct, she claims. She was fired in July “based upon pretextual accusations that she violated Apple policies,” according to the her complaint.
Apple did not return The Post’s request for comment.
