Apple Manager has been sued by the US Federal Agency for making Anti-Semitic remarks, denied Sabbath leave, and fired workers in violation of civil rights law.
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the technology giant discriminated against a Jewish employee and later fired him after he sought religious accommodations.
The case, filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, centers on Tyler Steele, a longtime employee at Apple’s retail store in Reston, Virginia. According to the EEOC’s complaint, Steele converted to Judaism in 2023 and soon after faced repeated Anti-Semitic remarks and unfair treatment from his store manager.
The agency said the manager mocked Steele’s body odor, refused his requests for time off during the Jewish Sabbath — observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening — and warned him not to discuss the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel with colleagues. Steele was allegedly dismissed in January 2024, only days after he again declined to work on a Friday due to his religious beliefs.
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The lawsuit accuses Apple of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion, race, sex, and other protected categories. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for what it described as Apple’s “malicious and reckless conduct.”
Apple has not responded publicly to the allegations.
The EEOC, which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, has increasingly focused on cases involving religious freedom under Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. Lucas, appointed by President Donald Trump, has argued that religious protections have been neglected in recent years. In an August statement, she said such rights had “too often taken a backseat to woke policies.”
Court documents show Steele began working for Apple in 2007 as an “Apple Genius,” providing customer support and repairs. His relationship with management reportedly deteriorated after his conversion to Judaism and subsequent accommodation requests. The lawsuit claims that Steele complained twice to Apple’s human resources department, but the company failed to intervene before his dismissal.
The EEOC’s lawsuit marks one of the agency’s most high-profile religious discrimination cases this year. It underscores growing federal scrutiny of how major corporations handle employee faith-based requests — an issue that has drawn renewed attention amid rising reports of Anti-Semitism and religious bias in the United States.
Africa Daily News, New York
