Apple to pay $150,000 to settle lawsuit after EEOC alleges the company fired a Jewish employee in Sabbath dispute

Apple Inc. will pay $150,000 and revise its religious accommodation policies to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which alleged that the company denied a Jewish employee’s request to observe the Sabbath and fired him because of his religion and in retaliation for his complaints.

According to an Aug. 27 EEOC press release, Apple will provide $80,000 in back pay and $70,000 in compensatory damages to the former employee, who worked for the company for several years as an “Apple Genius,” providing technical support and product repairs at the company’s store in Reston, Virginia.

Under the two-year consent decree, the company will also update its religious observance policy to require written explanations when it denies accommodation requests; train relevant store managers and human resources staff on Title VII requirements; and report religious accommodation denials and related complaints to the EEOC. 

“Accommodating an employee’s religious beliefs is not optional — it is an obligation mandated by federal law in the absence of an undue hardship,” EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence said in the release. “We appreciate Apple’s willingness to work cooperatively with the EEOC to resolve this matter and take affirmative steps to ensure compliance with federal law.”

The employee converted to Judaism in 2023 and requested time off from Friday sundown through Saturday sundown to observe the Jewish Sabbath, the EEOC said when it filed the lawsuit in September 2025. The agency alleged that a new store manager rejected the request because it conflicted with an Apple scheduling policy governing weekend work, forcing the employee to work during the Sabbath against his religious beliefs. 

The agency alleged that the same manager later fired the employee in January 2024 because of his religion and for his complaints about the accommodation denial and the manager’s disparaging religious comments. 

According to the EEOC, the employee had consistently received positive performance reviews before the controversy.

“The EEOC also charged that around this same time, and after requesting his religious reasonable accommodation,” the September 2025 EEOC press release said, “Apple began disciplining him for allegedly violating its grooming policies, and shortly after he reminded his supervisor of an upcoming day off for religious reasons, Apple terminated him in January 2024, falsely claiming another violation of its grooming policy.”

Apple denied the EEOC’s allegations and did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit alleged that Apple violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. The law also prohibits religious discrimination and retaliation against employees who complain or oppose discrimination. 

“No employee should be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood,” Mindy Weinstein, director of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, said in the release. “The EEOC will continue to enforce federal laws protecting employees’ rights to religious accommodation.”