The recording of my LaborFest 2024 talk about Apple, hazardous waste, semiconductor fab, & workplace safety is now posted! Check it out! 

From the YouTube description:

"Apple in Santa Clara has illegally built a fabrication facility next to residential apartments in Santa Clara and has flagrantly violated EPA and other local and state  regulations in the operation of this facility. Ashley M. Gjøvik is a former Apple senior engineering program manager who  discovered that her office was above a contaminated dump site that was allowing fumes to enter the office and that her home was also located next to the illegal  Apple fabrication facility that was contaminating the Santa Clara neighborhood. When she blew the whistle she was targeted and terrorized by Apple in order to shut her down. She is now fighting Apple in Federal Court and filed a  RICO suit against Apple for its illegal activities. She also discovered that the oversight agencies which are supposed to protect her and the public have been captured by Apple and the corporations that they are supposed to be regulating. This presentation was made on July 21, 2024 as part of LaborFest.net which commemorates the 1934 San Francisco general strike  during the month of July and was also sponsored by WorkWeek. 

On June 21 2024, the US EPA released an enforcement report with 18 exhibits, that confirmed Apple Inc is operating an unpermitted *semiconductor fabrication* facility in one of the busiest and most trafficked areas in the city of Santa Clara, California.

The report, along with Apple's own regulatory filings, confirmed this facility is emitting hazardous waste vapors, fumes, and gases into the outdoor air around the building. The report also confirmed that Apple is engaged in hazardous waste treatment and disposal, including these air emissions, without the permits, records, and monitoring required by federal law.

This nondescript building sits directly across the street from high-density residential apartments (Santa Clara Square), and a variety of commercial buildings including, but not limited to: a Whole Foods grocery store, several restaurants with outdoor patios, and a yoga studio. There is also a school within 1,000 feet, and two public parks within 200 feet of this factory.

Back in February 2023, through my own research, I discovered that Apple was doing silicon fab at the facility. I spent several months researching further, gathering records, speaking with agencies, and drafting a formal complaint. Because of all of the evidence and information I gathered, I was able to successfully trigger a US EPA RCRA Compliance & Enforcement investigation, which then led to at least three on site inspections, as described in the report. US EPA found at least *19* unique violations of RCRA during these inspections.

Semiconductor fab is one of the most dangerous types of manufacturing in history; for the workers inside the plant, and also for the people and environment outside the plant. I became seriously ill while living at the Santa Clara Square apartments several years ago - and the illness was diagnosed by chemical exposure doctors as exposure to industrial chemicals from an unknown source. I went public about it, and additional victims promptly came forward. But the government could not figure out where the chemicals were coming from. Its clear now what the source was.

Its unclear how many people were exposed and injured by Apple's illegal manufacturing operations. I am lobbying for involvement from the Dept of Public Health to investigate the extent of the damage Apple has caused to probably thousands of human lives. There is also a question of harm to environment, and harm to the properties of all of the homes and small businesses surrounding this factory.

I feel very proud and relieved that all of my hard work from 2020 to 2023 investigating the chemical hazards in that area resulted in so much action from the government, and identified such a dangerous situation that required intervention - but there is still a lot of work to be done.

The US EPA RCRA Inspection report and all of its exhibits are available via my Dropbox.

There's also a few social media threads about the report:
- Twitter @ashleygjovik
- Mastodon @ashleygjovik
- BlueSky @ashleygjovik

On May 20 2022 the US Court in the Northern District of California, SF Division, issued a ruling allowing eight of my legal claims against Apple Inc to proceed. Apple had filed a Motion to Dismiss some of my claims (allowing some to stay) and the US Judge only granted Apple's motion for two claims, but allowed eight claims to proceed and provided me leave to amend another seven claims.

The US Judge ok'd the following claims to go forward: Nuisance (toxic tort for silicon fab emissions), Ultrahazardous activities (same), Breach of Good Faith & Fair Dealing, Tamney claim (termination in violation of public policy), Cal. Labor Code § 98.6 (retaliation for labor complaints), § 6310 (retaliation for safety complaints), Cal. B&P Code § 17200 (unfair business practices - injunctive relief against Apple over Gobbler and other user studies), and IIED (fear of cancer due to chemical exposure).

He also granted leave to amend for: RICO 1962(c) and (d), Bane Act, Ralph Act, NIED, Cal. Labor Code § 1102.5, and breach of implied contract (making me no longer an at will employee and can only be fired for cause) -- and also leave to amend to add additional allegations within some of the claims above.  I have until June 17 to file the updated complaint and then Apple has until July 15 2024 to respond.

A Pro Se plaintiff walking out of federal court, in a lawsuit against one of the most powerful companies in the world, after a motion to dismiss, with EIGHT claims intact, and another SEVEN claims which could still be added (so, potentially a total of fifteen viable claims), is extremely unusual. The Judge also allowing leave to amend a RICO claim by a pro se plaintiff is also very unusual - leave to amend is only granted if its possible the claim could be plausible.

I'm pleased with the decision and grateful to finally get my day in court.

The docket is here: 
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67772913/gjovik-v-apple-inc/

The complaint is here: 
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.417952/gov.uscourts.cand.417952.47.0.pdf

The decision is here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.417952/gov.uscourts.cand.417952.73.0.pdf

On March 27 2024, the US Department of Labor OALJ Administrative Law Judge issued an order setting the trial date for my Superfund / CERCLA whistleblower trial.

"This case arises from a complaint filed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or “the Act”), 42 U.S.C § 9610, and the implementing regulations found at 29 C.F.R. Part 24. The case has been assigned to...  U.S. Department of Labor, for hearing and decision.... A virtual formal hearing in the above-captioned proceeding will commence at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time during the week of March 3, 2025..."

View the order below.

On March 10 2024, Ashley submitted a community stakeholder interview record to the US EPA and USACE for the Five Year Review process at the Triple Site in Sunnyvale, California.

Read the submission here: ​​https://www.ashleygjovik.com/uploads/1/3/7/0/137008339/us-epa-fyr-triple-site-gjovik-interview-final-full.pdf

On January 19 2024, Gjovik's CERCLA/Superfund whistleblower retaliation case was docketed with the US. Dept. of Labor Office of Administrative Law Judges as Ashley Gjovik v Apple Inc, 2024-CER-00001 and assigned to the Boston court house.

​View PDF of docketing order.2PD42024-CER-00001-CER-00001

On January 8 2024, Ashley Gjovik appealed her US Department of Labor CERCLA charge to the US Department of Labor Office of Administrative Judges and requested a de novo hearing on the record. 

View the request here: gjovik.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/US-DOL-OALJ-Gjovik-v-Apple-CERCLA-RCRA-CAA.pdf

Ashley also requested an amendment to add RCRA and Clean Air Act charges as well, to capture what Apple did to her with their secret semiconductor fab exhaust in 2020.

On December 29 2023, Ashley filed another NLRB charge against Apple. This time, Ashley charged Apple's lawyers violated the NLRA on Apple's behalf. 

The charge is # 01-CA-332897

Read more about the NLRB charge here.