Female Employees Sue Apple Alleging Gender Pay Discrimination

Tech giant Apple is currently facing a class action lawsuit from a pair of employees. Two female employees alleged in the lawsuit that the iPhone maker pays women lower salaries than men for similar work. Reports suggest that the suit, which centers on Apple’s hiring practices and performance evaluations, was filed in San Francisco state court on Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that Apple's performance review system is biased as parameters such as teamwork and leadership tend to reward men, reported CNN. The lawsuit is also seeking damages for over 12,000 existing and former female employees of Apple. The plaintiffs, who are also asking the court to hold a jury trial to hear their complaint, reportedly allege that the company systematically relies on pay expectations and prior pay information before joining Apple to pay them less than male employees.

“I noticed that he was being paid almost $10,000 more than me, even though we performed substantially similar work. This revelation made me feel terrible,” said one of the plaintiffs in a statement, as quoted by CNN. Apple has not yet responded to the controversy.