The recent lawsuit against Apple has brought to light the systematic underpayment of women in its engineering, marketing, and AppleCare departments. Justina Jong and Amina Salgado, two long-time employees, have filed a lawsuit claiming that over 12,000 women at Apple were paid less than their male counterparts with similar education and experience. The lawsuit alleges that until late 2017, Apple asked potential hires about their previous pay, leading to women being offered lower starting salaries than men for the same work.
Justina Jong’s revelation that she was being paid almost $10,000 less than a male colleague who did the same job highlights the significant impact of this gender pay gap on female employees at Apple. The lawsuit seeks class-action status and back pay with interest for the thousands of current and former female employees who have been affected by Apple’s discriminatory pay practices over the past four years.
This lawsuit against Apple is not an isolated case in Silicon Valley. Google recently settled a class-action lawsuit for $118 million with up to 15,500 women, alleging similar gender discrimination in pay practices. The lawsuit against Apple further shines a spotlight on the male-dominated technology industry and the need for companies to address gender pay disparities.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s use of information about job applicants’ salary expectations, instead of their previous pay history, has perpetuated past pay disparities and resulted in women being paid less than men for similar work. Despite being required to keep records of wage rates for its California employees, Apple failed to take action to remedy the pay inequality, leading to widening pay disparities over time.
Female workers at Apple faced challenges in being slotted into lower salary levels, given lower-paying jobs, promoted more slowly and less frequently than men, and generally paid less for similar work. The lawsuit seeks an order barring Apple from paying women less than men for the same work, highlighting the need for systemic change to address gender pay discrimination in the tech industry.
The gender pay gap in Silicon Valley, as evidenced by the recent lawsuit against Apple, underscores the need for companies to address systemic inequalities in pay practices. The experiences of Justina Jong and Amina Salgado shed light on the challenges faced by female employees in male-dominated industries and the importance of advocating for equal pay for equal work. It is imperative for companies to take proactive measures to close the gender pay gap and ensure fair and equitable compensation for all employees, regardless of gender.
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