Apple CEO Tim Cook received complaints directly from at least two retail employees regarding Apple’s bag search policies, Reuters reports. The Apple retail store policy of checking employees’ bags is at the center of a 2013 lawsuit alleging that the company should compensate employees for the time taken to conduct the searches, which are often done as employees are leaving after their shift has formally concluded.
In a court filing made public on Wednesday, unsealed employee complaints showed messages to Cook suggesting that the precautionary searches are “embarrassing and demeaning” and that Apple managers “are required to treat ‘valued’ employees as criminals.” One employee complaint noted that these searches “are often performed in front of gawking customers,” while another email sent to Cook by a retail worker in Beijing accused Apple of treating its retail employees “as animals” and thieves. Cook had reportedly forwarded the messages to Apple retail and human resources execs asking, “Is this true?” although the filing doesn’t include what responses Cook received to that inquiry, or what further action was taken as a result of it.
Denise Young Smith, Apple’s vice president of human resources, however, did make a statement: “If it is simply a deterrent there has to be a more intelligent and respectful way to approach.” A hearing in the lawsuit is expected to take place on July 2.
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