Apple 'denied' $800k bonus to a 67-year-old man. He sued the company.

A 67-year-old employee has sued Apple. Donald Shruhan Jr, a senior manager at Apple, says that he sued the company because he was denied a retention bonus of around $800,000.

According to a Bloomberg report, Donald joined Apple in 2008 and is now a director in Apple’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Unit. Last Monday, he filed a lawsuit in the federal court in San Jose, California, US. 

Why: In the lawsuit, he mentioned that he wasn’t given merit increase in 2019 despite an excellent performance review. He also mentioned in the complaint that Apple tried to demote him.

Even though Donald had no plans for retirement; last year, Apple asked him to submit his plan for retirement.

'Obsessed with youth': According to Donald, the Silicon Valley is “obsessed with youth”. He says he is a victim of discrimination against older people. He also mentioned data from the 2015 Payscale survey, stating that while the median age of a US worker is 42; at Apple, it is 31.

For two preceding years, he received excellent reviews for which he was awarded with stocks worth $850,000 and $800,000 respectively. 

Since 2019, even with good performance ratings, he had not received any bonus.

What Apple told Donald: As per the lawsuit, Apple has said that “he wouldn’t get his RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) because they’re meant to be an investment in the future and a retention hook”.

When he questioned the company on the same, a supervisor responded that “Apple no longer saw a need to incentivise him because he was nearing retirement age”.

In the past: Earlier, in 2019, Apple was sued by an ex-employee. He was an Apple Store Genius with disability at Square One store in Mississauga, Canada. He sued the company for breaking the disability law. According to that person's lawsuit, Apple failed to provide a working table of a particular height for the disabled person, who was on wheelchair. He also faced issues with the doors.