Apple to pay $150,000 in damages to employee fired for refusing to work on Shabbat

Apple Store. Photo: Unsplash

When we enter an Apple store, we are used to seeing the Geniuses in blue shirts solving every technical glitch with a smile. It turns out that behind the scenes of one of the company's stores in the USA, an unpleasant incident occurred, which reached the federal court last year and has now concluded with financial compensation.

$150,000 in damages

Apple has agreed to pay $150,000 in damages as part of a settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The settlement agreement was approved as a court order in the federal court in the state of Virginia following a lawsuit filed against Apple last year. The lawsuit alleged that a manager at the company discriminated against, harassed, and eventually fired a Jewish employee after he requested not to work on weekends due to observing Shabbat.

According to the lawsuit, the employee, Taylor Steele, had been employed at the Apple store in the city of Reston since 2007 as an Apple Genius. Throughout his 16 years at the store, he received quite positive professional evaluations thanks to the technical support he provided to customers. It was further alleged that the trouble began after Steele converted to Judaism in 2023 and requested to adjust his shifts to his religious beliefs so that he would not work on Friday evenings and Saturdays. The new manager, who took office that same year, rejected the request, claiming that company policy does not allow for these two days to be taken as time off on a regular basis.

The Commission argued in the lawsuit that the manager did not stop at just rejecting the request, but made offensive remarks toward Steele, claimed he suffered from unpleasant body odor, and explicitly warned him not to talk to his colleagues about the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Steele complained twice to various HR departments at Apple about the conduct, but received no response. In January 2024, a few days after Steele again refused to work a shift scheduled for him on Friday evening, he was fired.

However, sources close to the matter reported at the time that the company had received dozens of complaints about the employee's conduct from both customers and other employees, and his behavior did not improve despite repeated attempts.

Salary, damages, and a periodic report

The lawsuit stated that Apple's actions constitute a clear violation of the Civil Rights Act, known as Title VII, a 1964 law that prohibits religious discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. Legal sources note that the case is another example of the EEOC's increased enforcement policy under the leadership of Chair Andrea Lucas, who has placed an emphasis on protecting the freedom of worship and religion of employees.

As part of the settlement, Apple agreed to pay Steele $80,000 for retroactive back pay and an additional $70,000 as damages for the harm caused. However, the company denied all allegations against it and did not admit legal liability. Beyond the payment of funds, Apple committed to conducting workshops for its store employees on religious discrimination and to submit a periodic report to the EEOC over the next two years detailing the company's procedures in the field.