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According to Reuters, a proposed class action lawsuit has been filed accusing Apple of paying over 12,000 female workers in California less than their male co-workers.
The lawsuit also maintains that Apple routinely underpays female workers across divisions including marketing, engineering, and AppleCare. It suggests that Apple’s performance evaluation system, used to drive raises and bonuses, is also biased against women, rewarding men and penalizing women for scored job performance categories including leadership and teamwork.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Apple bases starting salaries on workers’ pay from previous jobs, or their “pay expectations”, creating a pattern of lower pay for female employees.
Since 2018, the California Equal Pay Act has prohibited employers in California from asking job applicants about their salary history in a bid to eliminate gender or race-based pay gaps. The lawsuit claims that when asked about pay expectations, most employees provide a slightly higher number than the salary from their last or current role.
Apple said in a statement to Reuters that the company is committed to pay equality and inclusion. Eva Cervantez, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said this was a “no-win” situation for female employees, with Apple’s actions exacerbating the existing gender pay gap.
The plaintiffs seek repayment of low earnings and benefits due to Apple’s alleged discrepancies, alongside payment for damages and other forms of relief. The law firms representing the plaintiffs — Altshuler Berzon, Outten & Golden, and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll — all have extensive histories of brokering large settlements in other gender bias cases.
We have reached out to Apple for comment and will update if we hear back.
