Cher Scarlett
Cher Scarlett (born 1984 or 1985) is an American workers' rights activist, software engineer, and writer. She has organized staff at Apple, Activision Blizzard, and Starbucks.
Cher Scarlett | |
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Scarlett in 2021 | |
Born | 1984 or 1985 (age 38–39) Walla Walla, Washington, U.S. |
Occupation | Software engineer |
Employer | ControlZee |
Known for | Workers' rights advocacy |
Notable work | #AppleToo movement Apple Together |
Scarlett, who has bipolar disorder, experienced struggles in her early life, leading her to drop out of high school and attempt to overdose. Self-taught web development skills from her adolescence in the late 1990s allowed her to overcome a lack of formal education and build a software engineering career after the birth of her child. Scarlett's experiences and observations in a male-dominated occupation led her to become a workers' rights advocate and critic of technology and corporations.
She was a leader of the #AppleToo movement, which gathered and shared stories of mistreatment from current and former Apple employees, and was a founder of Apple Together, a solidarity union, where she remains an advisor. Scarlett also filed complaints against Apple with the National Labor Relations Board and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After months of activism at the company, Scarlett voluntarily resigned with a now-defunct settlement after she says she was harassed, intimidated, and retaliated against.
Scarlett has successfully lobbied for labor laws in Washington state. She also advocated for Apple shareholder proposals regarding civil rights and concealment clauses, the first to be approved by the company's shareholders in more than 10 years.