Lawit demands Apple change its approach
Two women have filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple in California, accusing the tech giant of systematically underpaying female employees over the past four years. The lawsuit, representing 12,000 current and former employees, alleges that Apple's pay practices and performance evaluation system discriminate against women.
The core of the complaint centers around Apple's practice of basing starting salaries on previous salary history, which was discontinued at the end of 2017. The lawsuit argues that this approach perpetuates the existing gender pay gap because women typically earn less than men in the technology industry.
Research has shown that employees tend to base their salary expectations on their current or past salary, potentially leading women to underestimate themselves during the interview process. The lawsuit alleges bias in Apple's performance evaluation system. The complaint alleges that subjective criteria such as «teamwork» and «leadership» apply differently to men and women. According to the lawsuit, men are rewarded for behavior for which women may be criticized, further affecting their earning potential.
The lawsuit seeks financial compensation for damages suffered by female employees due to alleged pay discrepancies. In addition, the plaintiffs seek «declaratory relief» — court order requiring Apple to change its payment and pricing practices to ensure fairness. They also ask for a jury trial.
It was previously reported that a man decided to sue Apple for its message storage policy: he corresponded, deleted messages in iMessages on his iPhone, but they remained on his home iMac.