Apple Sued With Discrimination Lawsuit

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Wow, some serious accusations are being levied against Apple. Two New Yorkers, Brian Johnston and Nile Charles have filed a lawsuit against Apple, saying that Apple Store employees discriminated against them because they were black and asked them to leave the store. One employee even went as far to tell the two men “Consider me God. You have to go.”

The complaint alleges that on December 9^th, 2010, Johnston and Charles, two African-American men, entered the Upper West Side Apple Store in NYC located at 1981 Broadway. You may be familiar with this store; it has a big class façade (not the famous glass cube Apple Store on Fifth Avenue). Anyway, the two men went in looking for some headphones.

The court documents say that the two men were wearing “baggy jeans and large sweaters with hoods”. They say then that a white Apple employee in his 50’s approached them, intimidated them and invaded their personal space. He told them “You know the deal” and then explained if they weren’t there to buy anything, they had to leave, allegedly, and before the men could explain they were looking for some headphones, the man said:

And before you say I’m racially discriminating against you, let me stop you. I am discriminating against you. I don’t want ‘your kind’ hanging out in the store.

As I said, serious. Other Apple employees came, including one that allegedly told the two men to “Consider [him] God.” The store’s head of security wasn’t any help, and when they finally found the store’s manager, the complaint alleges that he called the police in an attempt to embarrass the men further.

The two men are alleging that Apple violated federal and New York civil rights laws, and they’re asking for considerable punitive damages from the tech giant. The complaint says that Apple caused “emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and other non-pecuniary losses.”

This isn’t the first accusation of racism against Apple Stores and its employees. Internet personality Owen JJ Stone “OhDocta” described a situation last year where it seemed like Apple employees were partly expecting him to run out of the store with a MacBook Pro without paying while he was checking out. Plus, there was a case in Florida last year where an Apple Store employee who was in his mid-60s was denied promotions in the store because of his age – the idea being that Apple only wants young hipsters running the stores.

Obviously, Apple is innocent until proven guilty in this country. But, these are some serious allegations against the company.