Court documents, pertaining to a 2013 lawsuit claiming Apple should compensate its employees for mandatory bag checks made before they left the store, show a few of the affected employees complained directly to company CEO Tim Cook.
The employee complaints, which a judge ordered unsealed, are part of a 2013 lawsuit alleging Apple should compensate employees for the time it takes to conduct the searches. One worker, whose name was blacked out of the court filing, told Cook in a 2012 message that Apple managers “are required to treat ‘valued’ employees as criminals.”
The emails to Cook said the company’s policy of checking its employees’ bags before they left the store was “embarrassing and demeaning.” The filing states that Cook then forwarded the complaints to retail and human resources executives asking, “Is this true?” The filing doesn’t note any responses from the executives.
The lawsuit – filed by Apple Retail employees Amanda Friekin and Dean Pelle, was dismissed last year, and now seeking class action status – claims that mandatory bag checks, intended to discourage theft, were performed whenever an employee left the store.
A 2012 email to Cook, containing the subject line: “Fearless Feedback from Apple Retail Specialist,” the employee told Cook the policy implies the company doesn’t trust its own workers.
“These procedures are often performed in front of gawking customers,” the employee wrote, adding that workers deserve to be treated with the same respect that Apple shows customers.
In a similar case, ruled on by the Supreme court last December, Amazon won over its employees who had sued for monetary compensation due to the time spent going through end of shift security checks. The court ruled for Amazon, as it found that the security checks were not a “principal activity” of the employees’ job description, and is not subject to compensation.
Another email to Cook and other managers, sent by a retail worker in Beijing, said Apple treats its employees “as animals” and thieves. It also complained of an emergency exit in the store being blocked by Apple products.
A hearing on the lawsuit is set for July 2.
