If Apple or Walmart want to use “associate” internally as a euphemism for “employee,” because they think it sounds nicer or something, obviously they can. But

If Apple or Walmart want to use “associate” internally as a euphemism for “employee,” because they think it sounds nicer or something, obviously they can. But the database field we’re taking about is Job Title. And Apple knows what it is; they populate that field with actual job titles for current employees, and they use such databases themselves to check their own applicants. If your point is that “associate” is an overloaded term, acknowledged. But don’t expect me to believe Apple doesn’t know that. They use it in junior titles themselves. If they don’t want to provide it for former employees they could blank the field or supply a value like “Not Provided” which would have been even more clear about what is going on.