14 DAY TRIAL // A former Apple employee has been contacted by one of Apple’s suppliers on a curious matter, to say the least. The guy got hold of a broken slab of glass from the spiral stairway in Apple’s Fifth Avenue (New York) flagship store a year ago, when he worked at that location. When he attempted to sell it on eBay, a person from Seele (the manufacturer of the glass stairway) contacted him saying, “Apple has caught wind of this and is quite unhappy.”
“Multi billion dollar corporations should not be able to bully an innocent ex-employee into cooperation, especially when the corporations are at fault,” Mark Burstiner tells Gizmodo. The tech-site has agreed to post his story in his own words, which goes a bit like this (highlights):
A year and a half ago, I was an Apple employee at the Fifth Ave flagship store. In that time, there was a silly, unfortunate accident. A woman came down the magnificent spiral staircase, and dropped a Snapple bottle. [...] After bouncing once or twice, the bottle severely cracked one of the steps. [...] Later that month, four or five very big men came to replace the step with a new one. [...] Off the clock and in civilian clothes, I asked the contractors who were there on behalf of Seele, the manufacturer, if I could have a step. 'It could be a collectible some day,' I said. They, of course, saw no problem with it, and even collectively helped me lift it into a vehicle. That is the story of how I came to be in possession of a step from the spiral staircase at Apple Fifth Ave.
Burstiner then fast-forwards to February 20, 2010 when, faced with having to move around the heavy glass step, decided to put it up on eBay. And so the story continues:
The very next day, the eBay posting got a lot of press, and it even ended up here on the Giz. Not 24 hours later, the stair was up to $255, dozens of eBay questions, and 200+ watchers with 9 days to go on the auction. Things were looking good until I was reached out to by a Seele VP. This gentleman informed me that Apple has caught wind of this and is quite unhappy. [...] He assured me he was doing me a favor by reaching out to me and requesting that I remove the posting and return the glass step. He repeatedly made the point that if I complied that he would be so kind as so email Apple and tell them I've been cooperative.
Burstiner can’t stress this enough, so he concludes by saying, “I won't allow a major corporation to bully me into a corner. At the time of this posting, it has been seven full days since I put the listing up, and I haven't heard from Apple directly a single time. I have every right to sell my property, and I plan to do so.” The auction is back up. Not surprisingly (given the press this thing is getting), it has fetched Burstiner some US $7,238.64 so far. One day to go.
