Dec 2 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) has been accused in a

new lawsuit of illegally monitoring its workers' personal

devices and iCloud accounts while also barring them from

discussing their pay and working conditions.

The complaint filed in California state court on Sunday by

Amar Bhakta, who works in digital advertising for Apple ( AAPL ), claims

the company requires employees to install software on personal

devices that they use for work allowing Apple ( AAPL ) to access their

email, photo libraries, health and "smart home" data and other

personal information.

At the same time, the lawsuit alleges, Apple ( AAPL ) imposes

confidentiality policies that prohibit employees from discussing

working conditions, including with the media, and engaging in

legally-protected whistleblowing.

Bhakta, who has worked for Apple ( AAPL ) since 2020, says he was

barred from talking about his work on podcasts and instructed to

remove information about his working conditions from his

LinkedIn profile.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) surveillance policies and practices chill, and thus

also unlawfully restrain, employee whistleblowing, competition,

freedom of employee movement in the job market, and freedom of

speech," the lawsuit said.

Apple ( AAPL ) in a statement provided by a spokesperson said the

claims in the lawsuit lack merit and that its workers are

trained annually on their rights to discuss their working

conditions.

"At Apple, we're focused on creating the best products and

services in the world and we work to protect the inventions our

teams create for customers," the company said.

Lawyers for Bhakta also represent two women who filed a

lawsuit in June accusing Apple ( AAPL ) of systematically underpaying

female workers in its engineering, marketing, and AppleCare

divisions. Apple ( AAPL ) has said it is committed to inclusion and pay

equity.

Apple ( AAPL ) is also facing at least three complaints from a U.S.

labor board claiming it has illegally deterred employees from

discussing issues such as sex bias and pay discrimination with

each other and the media, including by restricting their use of

social media and workplace messaging app Slack. The company has

denied wrongdoing.

The new lawsuit was filed under a unique California law that

allows workers to sue their employers on behalf of the state and

keep 35% of any penalties that are recovered.