¡®Apple Ageism¡¯: 67-YO Employee Sues Tech Giant, Alleges He Was Denied $800,000 Retention Bonus

A senior manager has sued tech giant Apple claiming that he was denied a retention bonus of at least $800,000 because at the age of 64 he was no longer seen ¡°as part of Apple¡¯s future.¡±

Apple Sued For Allegedly Denying Employee $800,000 Retention Bonus

Donald Shruhan Jr., who has worked for Apple since 2008 and is now aged 67, alleges in a lawsuit filed last Monday in federal court in San Jose, California, that he wasn¡¯t awarded restricted stock units or a merit increase in 2019 even though he was given an excellent performance review. 67-YO Shruhan Jr. claims he was asked last year to submit his plan for retirement, although he hadn¡¯t indicated any such move, Bloomberg reports.

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¡°This was an age-based assumption on the decision maker's part, with no basis in fact,¡± he argues. At the same time, Apple aimed to demote him, according to the complaint.

Shruhan Jr. says he¡¯s a victim of discrimination against older workers in Silicon Valley, which is ¡°obsessed with youth.¡± Citing a 2015 Payscale survey, he says that while the median age of a US worker is 42, it is 31 at Apple,

Shruhan Jr. is a director in Apple¡¯s Intellectual Property Enforcement unit, where he has managed efforts to combat counterfeiting in the Asia-Pacific region and has also served as a veteran senior manager on Apple¡¯s global security team, he said, the report went on.

In the two preceding years after Shruhan earned excellent reviews, he was reportedly granted restricted stock units valued at $850,000 and $800,000, he claims. For 2019, Apple said he wouldn¡¯t get his RSUs because they¡¯re meant to be ¡°an investment in the future and a retention hook,¡± according to his lawsuit. The case is Shruhan v. Apple, 22-cv-05481, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

A supervisor¡¯s response to his inquiry revealed that Apple apparently no longer saw a need to incentivize him

According to the suit, this was because he was nearing retirement age,

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Also Read: How A Lost iPhone Led To Warren Buffett Investing Billions In Apple

Also, Shruhan said he had reached an impasse with Apple¡¯s human resources department before suing. He seeks unspecified monetary damages for emotional distress, as well as a civil penalty against Apple under California¡¯s unfair competition law, the report mentioned.

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