Apple Sued for Underpaying Women in California

A class action alleging Apple of underpaying over 12,000 California women was filed Thursday

Two women Apple has employed for over a decade have filed a lawsuit in state court in San Francisco. The lawsuit alleges that the company systematically underpays female employees in its engineering, marketing, and AppleCare divisions.

According to the complaint, Apple’s starting pay is determined by the salaries of prior positions or their “pay expectations,” which leads to lower pay rates for women.

The lawsuit also alleges that Apple’s performance evaluation system, employed to determine bonuses and promotions, is biased against women.

Cupertino, California-based: Apple declared its dedication to pay equity and inclusion in a statement.

“Since 2017, Apple has achieved and maintained gender pay equity, and every year, we partner with an independent third-party expert to examine each team member’s total compensation and make adjustments, where necessary, to ensure that we maintain pay equity,” according to the organization.

According to Eve Cervantez, a counsel for the plaintiffs, Apple’s policies exacerbate and expand existing gender pay disparities.

Cervantez stated that this is a situation in which female employees at Apple cannot succeed.

Outten & Golden, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, and Altshuler Berzon are the class action law firms that represent the plaintiffs.

The firms have facilitated substantial settlements in other sex bias cases, such as a $215 million agreement with Goldman Sachs last year and a $175 million settlement with Sterling Jewelers in 2022. Those organizations denied any misconduct.

Employers in California have been prohibited from inquiring about the salary history of job applicants since 2018 to reduce pay disparities based on sex and race.

Apple instead establishes their remuneration based on the pay expectations of applicants, as per the lawsuit filed on Thursday.

However, the lawsuit asserts that the practice perpetuates wage disparities by requiring most employees to submit a figure marginally higher than their most recent salary.

According to the plaintiffs, Apple also incentivizes employees who are considered to possess “talent” by providing them with higher salaries; however, this designation is disproportionately granted to men.

Apple is accused of violating California’s Equal Pay Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in pay, as well as state laws that prohibit workplace sex bias and discriminatory business practices, according to the lawsuit.

Justina Jong, one of the plaintiffs, also alleges that Apple declined to transfer her to a different team after she reported sexual harassment by a colleague. The lawsuit demands penalties and damages that are not specified.