Apple agrees to pay $150,000 to settle discrimination lawsuit over employee's Shabbat observance

Apple agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging religious discrimination against Tyler Steele, a Jewish employee at a Virginia store. The EEOC filed the suit in September 2025, claiming Apple failed to accommodate Steele's Shabbat observance and fired him after he complained. The settlement includes $80,000 back pay and $70,000 in damages, plus policy updates.

Apple has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that the company failed to accommodate a Jewish employee's observance of Shabbat and later fired him after he complained of religious discrimination. The lawsuit, filed in September 2025, concerned Tyler Steele, a longtime employee at an Apple store in Reston, Virginia. Steele converted to Judaism in the spring of 2023, and while his initial manager approved his request not to be scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays, a subsequent manager, Anthony Dosch, rescinded the accommodation. According to the complaint, Dosch denied Steele's requests in September 2023, allegedly telling him he "could become a rules Nazi with regards to our policies." Days after Hamas' October 7 massacre, Dosch warned Steele not to discuss the conflict at work, and a month later issued a misconduct warning claiming Steele had body odor. Steele complained to Apple officials in November 2023 about antisemitic behavior and the denial of his accommodation, and was fired in January 2024 after reminding Dosch he could not work on a Friday. The EEOC alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The settlement, filed in federal court in Virginia on August 7, 2026, includes $80,000 in back pay and $70,000 in compensatory damages and interest, and requires Apple to update its religious accommodation policies and conduct trainings within 90 days. Apple denied the allegations and did not admit wrongdoing.