Apple Store, class action for employee searches towards closure

The class action for the issue of searches of bags and backpacks of Apple Store employees will cost Apple 30.5 million dollars: the company has put that figure on the plate, the prosecution has accepted, the judge has approved. Now it’s just a matter of formalizing everything and putting the money into circulation. The figure had already been announced in recent months, and Apple has even already put a dedicated page of its website online to explain what happened in detail.

To recap, the facts go back to a period of time between 2009 and 2015 approximately, and involves 14,683 employees and former employees of Apple’s physical stores in California. Simply put: the searches took place outside working hours, and being obviously compulsory, they were equated by the prosecution with unpaid work. Apple counter-argued that the searches were to ensure that no one stole and that technically there was a way around them – just leave your bags or backpacks at home.

The defense line of the Apple was not liked by the judges, and despite the multiple appeals, Apple has never managed to meet the favor of the judges. It is worth noting that in the meantime the practice of searches has also been abolished, moreover defined by the accusation as “embarrassing and humiliating”. Doing a very quick and very rough calculation, each participant in the class action should be entitled to around $ 2,000; but we have to see what the percentage withheld by the lawyers will be and how they will be distributed. In any case, it seems that the question is towards its final resolution.