Apple has long talked up the strides it’s making when it comes to being an inclusive workplace. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t examples of this not being the case.
As reported by Bloomberg Thursday, Apple has lost the early round of a discrimination lawsuit brought against the company by a female engineer from India. She alleges that her two male managers, one from India and the other from Pakistan, treated her as a subservient.
The report notes:
“Anita Nariani Schulze is part of the Sindhi minority — she is Hindu, with ancestry in the Sindh region of what is now Pakistan. Her complaint alleges that her senior and direct managers, both male, consistently excluded her from meetings while inviting her male counterparts, criticized her, micromanaged her work, and deprived her of bonuses, despite positive performance evaluations and significant team contributions.
Schulze claims the managers’ animus reflects sexism, racism, religious bias and discrimination on the basis of national origin. The Sindhi Hindu nationality is ‘known for its technical acumen’ and its gender equality, she says, which ‘exacerbated the managers’ discriminatory treatment.'”
Discrimination in tech
The report notes that this is the latest case of alleged workplace bias “that focuses on cultural prejudices of some tech workers” from South Asia.
In a ruling made on Wednesday, a Santa Clara County judge said that the plaintiff had adequately supported her claims. Apple argued that the case was not specific enough and was “based on stereotypes.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken out repeatedly against racial or sex/gender-based discrimination. A case like this, even if it doesn’t reflect Apple’s attitude as a whole, nonetheless suggests there’s more work that needs to be done in this area. Even in a company as outwardly progressive as Apple.
Source: Bloomberg
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
