Star at Apple is accused by his team

Workers say the executive was volatile and retaliated when they cooperated with an investigation. Apple denies the claims, writes Tripp Mickle from San Francisco

- Tripp Mickle

Jay Blahnik was a fitness superstar with a book and nearly two decades of work with Nike before he was hired in 2013 to work on the Apple Watch.

He became known inside Apple as the creator of the watch's signature fitness feature: three circular bands that people could complete through the day by exercising, standing and burning calories. Marketed with the tagline "Close Your Rings," the concept helped galvanise sales of Apple's first breakout product after Steve Jobs's death.

But along the way, Mr Blahnik created a toxic work environment, said nine current and former employees who worked with or for Mr Blahnik and spoke about personnel issues on the condition of anonymity. They said Mr Blahnik, 57, who leads a roughly 100-person division as vice president for fitness technologies, could be verbally abusive, manipulative and inappropriate. His behaviour contributed to decisions by more than 10 workers to seek extended mental health or medical leaves of absence since 2022, about 10% of the team, these people said.

When confronted with Mr Blahnik's behaviour, Apple moved to protect him after an internal investigation. The company settled one complaint alleging sexual harassment by Mr Blahnik and is fighting a lawsuit by an employee, Mandana Mofidi, who said he had bullied her. Mr Blahnik stayed in his job after company officials said their investigation had found no evidence of wrongdoing, according to interviews and Ms Mofidi's lawsuit, which she filed against Mr Blahnik and Apple last year in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The tension inside Mr Blahnik's division speaks to workplace dysfunction at the heart of one of Apple's signature health initiatives. These employees said the company was more willing to protect a star executive than address the concerns of rank-and-file workers.