In a twist that eerily mirrors an episode of Silicon Valley soap opera, two female employees at Apple have filed a lawsuit claiming that the tech behemoth pays women less than men for the same work. Apple, known for its shiny gadgets and polished rhetoric, is now under microscopic scrutiny for its alleged pay disparities (CNN; New York Post).

The proposed class action lawsuit aims to be the Big Bang of workplace equality, potentially representing more than 12,000 current and former female employees across Apple's engineering, marketing, and AppleCare divisions. Picture the feminist version of the Avengers—except instead of capes, they're armed with spreadsheets and performance reviews (CNN; New York Post).

At the core of the lawsuit are Apple's hiring practices and performance evaluations, which are accused of driving a wage gap between men and women. Since January 2018, Apple has asked candidates about their pay expectations rather than their past salaries. In theory, this should have been a progressive move. However, the lawsuit alleges that Apple used these expectations to set lower starting salaries for women, unwittingly turning their modern recruitment practice into a 21st-century bait and switch (CNN).

Beyond salaries, the lawsuit also claims that Apple's performance evaluations are biased against women, stalling their promotions and affecting their bonuses. In one egregious example, plaintiff Justina Jong stumbled upon a male colleague's W-2, discovering that he was earning almost $10,000 more for performing a similar role. Welcome to Apple's reality distortion field, where equal work mysteriously transforms into unequal pay (CNN; New York Post).

Jong's grievances don’t stop there. She also claims she was compelled to work near a colleague who had sexually harassed her. Imagine being underpaid and simultaneously overexposed to an HR nightmare—a double whammy no one asked for (CNN).

The other plaintiff, Amina Salgado, raised the alarm about the wage gap on multiple occasions. A third-party investigation corroborated her claim that she was paid less than male colleagues. Apple's response? They increased her compensation going forward but skipped out on providing back pay. In other words, it was like fixing the leaky faucet but ignoring the flood damage (CNN).

The lawsuit demands compensation for lost wages, along with declaratory and injunctive relief. Despite these serious allegations, Apple's response has been the corporate equivalent of radio silence. Maybe they're hoping this will be one of those bugs that get quietly addressed in the next update (CNN; New York Post).

For those keeping score, Apple is not the first tech company to face such allegations. Google settled a gender discrimination lawsuit for a staggering $118 million in 2018, while Oracle settled for a relatively modest $25 million—pocket change by Silicon Valley standards (CNN). Clearly, tech giants trying to achieve equal pay must be prepared to part with more cash than a MacBook Pro teardown video.

As the legal fireworks loom, it remains to be seen whether this lawsuit will tarnish Apple's immaculate reputation or if the tech giant will find a slick way to sidestep yet another scandal. In the meantime, perhaps they could focus on fixing those easily breakable chargers—they're degrading faster than Apple's claims of gender equality.

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