“Apple Inc. was sued by Wayne Goodrich, who says he was a confidant, sounding board and close adviser to company co-founder Steve Jobs and was fired for no legitimate reason despite Jobs’s promise of job security,” Karen Gullo reports for Bloomberg.
“Goodrich said he was fired in December for what Apple said were ‘business reasons’ not connected to his performance, according to a complaint filed Aug. 17 in California state court in San Jose,” Gullo reports. “Goodrich, who worked for Jobs since 1998, was promised by late chairman of the world’s most valuable company in a one-on- one meeting in May 2005 that he would always have a job at Apple, according to the complaint.”
Gullo reports, “The conversation took place after Jobs’s return from medical leave to receive treatment for pancreatic cancer, Goodrich said. ‘This express promise by Steve Jobs was consistent with a practice that Steve Jobs had, acting on behalf of defendant Apple, of promising job security to certain key employees who worked directly with him for many years,’ Goodrich said in the complaint.”
“Goodrich said he played a key role working with Jobs to coordinate major product events such as the debut of the iPhone and iPad. The keynote speeches — and the resulting media coverage — have been a critical part of Apple’s strategy for introducing new devices,” Gullo reports. “Goodrich was assured by Jobs in 2010 that he would be given another job at Apple if anything happened to his position and Jobs wasn’t around, according to the complaint. Jobs died in October at age 56 after battling a rare form of cancer. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, took over as chief executive officer.”
Read more in the full article here.