Paul Holtzman, a labor and employment attorney at Krokidas and Bluestein, likened it to employee organizing rights before the dawn of the internet, when employers would prohibit materials from being distributed via mailboxes or in-person at a school or company. But "if it only raises an issue when somebody is talking about pay or any other conditions of work or discrimination, then the company is violating the law."Ĭlark similarly said Apple can't say employees "can talk about happy, fluffy things but not anything about the workplace." "A company can have a policy that says personal use of email or the Slack channel or any other technology is prohibited," Anne Clark, a partner at the law firm Vladeck, Raskin and Clark, told Insider.
While the experts we spoke to agree it's difficult to say if this was strictly legal or illegal, they agreed that if Apple is not applying the rules equally within Slack, the company could be in hot water if employees were to file a lawsuit against it. Apple banned a Slack channel that employees created to discuss their compensation at the company, and experts told Insider the company is on "very dangerous grounds" for doing so.Īpple shut down the channel because, while the topic was aligned with its "commitment to pay equity," it violated the company's Slack Terms of Service, The Verge's Zoë Schiffer reported.Īpple also said "Slack channels for activities and hobbies not recognized as Apple Employee clubs or Diversity Network Associations (DNAs) aren't permitted and shouldn't be created." But the outlet reported that Apple appears to not enforce that policy consistently since Slack channels exist at Apple devoted to non-work topics like dogs, gaming, dad jokes, and foosball.