Apple was the target of a proposed class action alleging that the tech company underpays more than 12,000 female employees in California compared to men in comparable positions.
A proposed class action claiming the tech giant is paying more than 12,000 female employees in California less than men with equivalent employment was filed against Apple (AAPL.O) on Thursday. Two women who have worked at Apple for more than ten years have filed a complaint in state court in San Francisco, claiming that the firm routinely underpays female employees in its marketing, engineering, and AppleCare departments. The complaint claims that Apple begins paying employees based on their starting pay from prior positions or on their “pay expectations,” which causes women to be paid less than men. In addition, the lawsuit alleges discrimination against women in Apple’s performance review system, which is used to determine incentives and raises.
Since 2017, Apple has attained and upheld female pay parity. “Each year, we collaborate with an impartial outside specialist to assess each team member’s overall remuneration and make any required modifications to guarantee that we preserve pay parity,” the business stated. Plaintiffs’ attorney Eve Cervantez said that Apple’s policies both maintain and exacerbate the gender pay disparity that already exists. Cervantez declared in a statement that “this is a no-win situation for female employees at Apple.”
The class action attorneys Altshuler Berzon, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, and Outten & Golden are defending the plaintiffs. In past sex bias lawsuits, the firms have mediated large settlements, such as the $215 million agreement with Goldman Sachs last year and the $175 million settlement with Sterling Jewelers in 2022. These businesses denied any misconduct. Since 2018, California has outlawed companies from inquiring about a job applicant’s past income in an effort to reduce racial and gender pay disparities.
The complaint filed on Thursday claims that Apple instead bases its salary determination on the wage expectations of applicants. However, the lawsuit claims that the technique has the same effect of maintaining wage discrepancies because the majority of workers offer a figure that is marginally greater than what they made at their previous position. According to the plaintiffs, Apple pays employees who are considered to have “talent” more, but it gives that label disproportionately.
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