The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has withdrawn major allegations that Apple CEO Tim Cook violated federal labor law, according to a report from Bloomberg. The move centers on Cook’s September 2021 all-staff email warning that “people who leak confidential information do not belong here,” which prosecutors had previously argued could have chilled protected employee speech. Bloomberg says a Friday letter from the NLRB’s general counsel confirmed the pullback.
Bloomberg reports the agency is also abandoning several related claims against Apple, including accusations that the company unlawfully imposed sweeping confidentiality rules, surveilled workers, and retaliated against former program manager and #AppleToo organizer Janneke Parrish by terminating her. Apple has long denied wrongdoing; the NLRB declined to comment.
Context matters here: Tim Cook’s 2021 email followed media coverage of a companywide meeting where Apple executives fielded questions on pay equity and the company’s response to Texas’s anti-abortion law. Under Abruzzo, prosecutors took an expansive view of workers’ rights in such situations. Under Cowen, Bloomberg notes, the office has pared back or dropped a series of cases—from challenges to certain noncompete and “anti-gossip” policies to high-profile disputes touching other companies—while still pursuing some marquee complaints elsewhere.
For Apple, the development defuses one of the most visible labor flashpoints of the past few years and could shape how Big Tech enforces confidentiality and anti-leak policies going forward. For workers, the practical impact will hinge on where the NLRB draws the line next: between legitimate corporate protection of sensitive information and employee rights to discuss working conditions.
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