The former Apple employee whose writing about women prompted backlash from colleagues claimed Friday that the company knew about the work before hiring him.
Antonio Garcia Martinez made the claim in a Twitter thread, marking his first comments since the company terminated his employment.
“Apple was well aware of my writing before hiring me. My references were questioned extensively about my bestselling book and my real professional persona (rather than literary one),” he said. “This set of prominent Valley VCs and execs are all willing to assert as much under oath.”
APPLE EMPLOYEES DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO HIRE WHO DOESN’T ‘SHARE OUR INCLUSIVE VALUES’
A group of Apple employees circulated a written petition demanding an investigation into Apple’s hiring practices due to Martinez’s background, which they alleged are “misogynistic” and “overtly racist,” the Verge reported Wednesday.
The letter referred to Martinez’s published comments about women, some of whom he called “soft and weak, cosseted and naive despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of s—” in his book, Chaos Monkeys.
He was also accused of making racist comments toward Chander Sarna, the chief technology officer of Friendster.
“He reminded me of the bored auto-rickshaw drivers in front of Connaught Place, Delhi, who’d overcharge you a hundred rupees to go down the street to Paharganj,” he wrote in another passage that the letter signators found problematic. “‘So is there anything we can do compensation-wise, Antonio?’ asked Chander in his thick Indian accent.”
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Martinez characterized his firing from Apple as a “snap decision” and that a statement from the company “clearly implies there was some negative behavior by me during my time at Apple,” which he said was “defamatory and categorically false.”
The comment he referenced is: “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,” according to Bloomberg.
Apple did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
