Apple exec sues over 'ageist' removal of $800k stock bonus
(2022/09/29)
- Reference: 1664454612
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/09/29/apple_age_discrimination/
- Source link:
A 67-year-old director in Apple's Intellectual Property Enforcement unit is suing the company for age discrimination, alleging Apple unfairly took away a special bonus it uses to "retain key employees" in lead positions because of his age.
Donald K Shruhan's legal team, citing the infamous internal IBM comms disparaging employees as "Dinobabies" and calling for their extinction, [1]claims [PDF] Shruhan was a victim of "deeply rooted Silicon Valley ageism" when his manager told him he would no longer receive [2]restricted stock units (RSUs) in 2019.
The complaint cites consistent positive work reviews, and claims Shruhan "personally developed best-in-class programs in Global Security and IP enforcement" and that his immediate supervisor told him he had "saved Apple hundreds of millions of dollars" adding that he'd been given merit increases and RSUs along with his work reviews in every year except 2019.
[3]
It goes on to allege:
On September 26, 2019, [Tom] Moyer [Shruhan's supervisor] gave Plaintiff one of his many excellent reviews. However, by the end of the review he informed Plaintiff that the Company was not awarding him RSUs. Plaintiff is unaware of any other Senior Director who met or exceeded expectations but did not receive any RSUs. He was 64 years old at the time.
The two other senior directors in Plaintiff's organization, Legal Global Security, received RSUs commensurate with their performance. Each was significantly younger than Plaintiff.
In the two preceding fiscal years when Plaintiff received similar excellent reviews, he was granted RSUs valued at $850,000 and $800,000 respectively.
Shruhan, formerly a US Homeland Security investigator who also worked on the security team of Pfizer Inc, said he worked on mass production security leaks, fraud and major theft for Apple in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
After splitting his time as a senior director in the Global Security team and the Intellectual Property Enforcement (IPE) teams while in the APAC region, he planned to move to working exclusively for the IPE team from Arizona in the US in 2020, describing the IPE supervisor as being "thrilled" he would consider taking the new role.
[4]
[5]
The complaint goes on to claim that when Shruhan queried the RSUs issue with human resources, the Apple exec's supervisor confirmed that he hadn't awarded Shruhan any stock because the awards are "designed as an investment in the future and a retention hook." The security pro claimed the same supervisor implied that he "no longer saw him as part of Apple's future, and no longer saw the need to incentivize Plaintiff's continued employment with Apple because he was nearing retirement age."
According to the suit, he then went to Apple's legal department, who told him to try to work it out with HR. Shruhan alleges human resources staffers later told him the stock was withheld because of a "clawback" policy which meant he was not entitled to any stock. The IP director claimed that when asked for the written policy, HR couldn't produce anything.
[6]
The Apple exec filed an Employee Relations complaint alleging age discrimination in October 2021 about the lack of 2019 RSUs and merit increase, saying "it was the first time in 11 years that his stock award was not commensurate with his professional achievement."
[7]Those screws on the Apple Watch Ultra are a red herring
[8]Apple to raise App Store prices in 28 countries
[9]Bad news, older tech workers: Job advert language works against you
[10]Google age discrimination case: Supervisor called me 'grandpa', engineer claims
[11]Intel laid me off for being too old, engineer claims in lawsuit
The complaint adds that "after another excellent performance review in FY 2021," Shruhan was told "his RSU award would again be diminished."
It also alleges that in September 2021, Shruhan was allegedly "asked to submit an email indicating his plan for retirement" despite "never having notified Apple of his intention to retire." Then, claims the exec, in a February 2022 call with Apple's Employee Relations team, he was allegedly told that he was not awarded any RSUs in 2019 because his supervisor "thought he was retiring."
After what the suit describes as failed mediation effort with Apple counsel earlier this month, Shruhan filed the complaint last week in the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
It was removed to the US District Court for the Northern District of California at the [12]request of Apple on Tuesday this week [PDF].
[13]
The suit charges Apple with age discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, and violation of the [14]Unfair Business Practices act.
The director wants damages for the RSUs he believes he should have received in 2019 – with a value at the time of between $800,000 and $850,000. He's also looking for punitive damages, emotional distress damages for "humiliation and embarrassment", as well as attorneys' fees and other damages and costs.
We've asked Apple for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/09/29/complaint_santa_clara2.pdf
[2] https://www.schwab.com/public/eac/resources/articles/rsu_facts.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YzXBHvSUuukJRDolhmV2vQAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/28/apple_watch_ultra_repairability/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/20/apple_raising_app_store_prices/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/02/ageist_job_ads/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/17/google_age_discrimination_santa_clara_case/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/30/intel_age_discrimination/
[12] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/09/29/apple_complaint_5_22cv05498.pdf
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YzXBHvSUuukJRDolhmV2vQAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/ftca.pdf
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Donald K Shruhan's legal team, citing the infamous internal IBM comms disparaging employees as "Dinobabies" and calling for their extinction, [1]claims [PDF] Shruhan was a victim of "deeply rooted Silicon Valley ageism" when his manager told him he would no longer receive [2]restricted stock units (RSUs) in 2019.
The complaint cites consistent positive work reviews, and claims Shruhan "personally developed best-in-class programs in Global Security and IP enforcement" and that his immediate supervisor told him he had "saved Apple hundreds of millions of dollars" adding that he'd been given merit increases and RSUs along with his work reviews in every year except 2019.
[3]
It goes on to allege:
On September 26, 2019, [Tom] Moyer [Shruhan's supervisor] gave Plaintiff one of his many excellent reviews. However, by the end of the review he informed Plaintiff that the Company was not awarding him RSUs. Plaintiff is unaware of any other Senior Director who met or exceeded expectations but did not receive any RSUs. He was 64 years old at the time.
The two other senior directors in Plaintiff's organization, Legal Global Security, received RSUs commensurate with their performance. Each was significantly younger than Plaintiff.
In the two preceding fiscal years when Plaintiff received similar excellent reviews, he was granted RSUs valued at $850,000 and $800,000 respectively.
Shruhan, formerly a US Homeland Security investigator who also worked on the security team of Pfizer Inc, said he worked on mass production security leaks, fraud and major theft for Apple in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
After splitting his time as a senior director in the Global Security team and the Intellectual Property Enforcement (IPE) teams while in the APAC region, he planned to move to working exclusively for the IPE team from Arizona in the US in 2020, describing the IPE supervisor as being "thrilled" he would consider taking the new role.
[4]
[5]
The complaint goes on to claim that when Shruhan queried the RSUs issue with human resources, the Apple exec's supervisor confirmed that he hadn't awarded Shruhan any stock because the awards are "designed as an investment in the future and a retention hook." The security pro claimed the same supervisor implied that he "no longer saw him as part of Apple's future, and no longer saw the need to incentivize Plaintiff's continued employment with Apple because he was nearing retirement age."
According to the suit, he then went to Apple's legal department, who told him to try to work it out with HR. Shruhan alleges human resources staffers later told him the stock was withheld because of a "clawback" policy which meant he was not entitled to any stock. The IP director claimed that when asked for the written policy, HR couldn't produce anything.
[6]
The Apple exec filed an Employee Relations complaint alleging age discrimination in October 2021 about the lack of 2019 RSUs and merit increase, saying "it was the first time in 11 years that his stock award was not commensurate with his professional achievement."
[7]Those screws on the Apple Watch Ultra are a red herring
[8]Apple to raise App Store prices in 28 countries
[9]Bad news, older tech workers: Job advert language works against you
[10]Google age discrimination case: Supervisor called me 'grandpa', engineer claims
[11]Intel laid me off for being too old, engineer claims in lawsuit
The complaint adds that "after another excellent performance review in FY 2021," Shruhan was told "his RSU award would again be diminished."
It also alleges that in September 2021, Shruhan was allegedly "asked to submit an email indicating his plan for retirement" despite "never having notified Apple of his intention to retire." Then, claims the exec, in a February 2022 call with Apple's Employee Relations team, he was allegedly told that he was not awarded any RSUs in 2019 because his supervisor "thought he was retiring."
After what the suit describes as failed mediation effort with Apple counsel earlier this month, Shruhan filed the complaint last week in the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
It was removed to the US District Court for the Northern District of California at the [12]request of Apple on Tuesday this week [PDF].
[13]
The suit charges Apple with age discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, and violation of the [14]Unfair Business Practices act.
The director wants damages for the RSUs he believes he should have received in 2019 – with a value at the time of between $800,000 and $850,000. He's also looking for punitive damages, emotional distress damages for "humiliation and embarrassment", as well as attorneys' fees and other damages and costs.
We've asked Apple for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/09/29/complaint_santa_clara2.pdf
[2] https://www.schwab.com/public/eac/resources/articles/rsu_facts.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YzXBHvSUuukJRDolhmV2vQAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/28/apple_watch_ultra_repairability/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/20/apple_raising_app_store_prices/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/02/ageist_job_ads/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/09/17/google_age_discrimination_santa_clara_case/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/30/intel_age_discrimination/
[12] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/09/29/apple_complaint_5_22cv05498.pdf
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YzXBHvSUuukJRDolhmV2vQAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/ftca.pdf
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Foot. Shot....
Anonymous Coward
Am I the only one that thinks his chance's of getting any further RSUs are pretty much NULL?
Re: Foot. Shot....
Steve Kerr
From the looks of it, all future RSUs are already NULL as looking behind the scenes, they're trying to manage him out.
So yeah, he's suing for ageism.
Re: Foot. Shot....
Dave@Home
Weirdly I saw a post just today on an anonymous network site called Blind
An Apple employee (albeit a lot younger than this) got a decent review but no RSU's and was confused.
The consensus was that they were effectvely flagging they didn't want to keep them and being awarded no RSU's was their way of saying "go away, please"
https://www.teamblind.com/post/Devastated-by-my-comp-review-nZK0ftqY
Re: Foot. Shot....
Alex Stuart
The entitlement is strong from that one. 'Devastated' by a mere 10% pay rise to $230,000 and 8% bonus during a recession.
Is retirement in the USA
Sgt_Oddball
Mandatory when you reach retirement age? No? Then don't assume unless the employee signals their intent to retire.
Running the assumption that they are and removing any encouragement to stay is certainly ageist. Be interesting to see how this washes out.
Older employees are a pain in the arse.
Anonymous Coward
Not only are they much less susceptible to corporate bullshit (because they can just retire). They also demoralise younger wage slaves by being living proof of how things used to be.
Re: Older employees are a pain in the arse.
My-Handle
They're also a bit less susceptible to corporate bullshit because they've usually seen it all before, often several times over. That "corporate bullshit" => English gets very big and well exercised.
Dark and horrifying place...
chivo243
Hr@Apple... Almost as horrible as Legal@Apple.... two insurmountable mountains to conquer for this unlucky soul.
I've done some contracting work at Apple, and one thing I will say is that, at least at the campus I worked at, their workforce was actually quite a bit older than most other places I've worked. Most people seemed to be in their 40s give or take a decade. Some people were obviously older than that.
Not saying that this guy's claims don't have merit, just that of all Apple's workers, even just within Silicon Valley, I have personally seen probably only a tiny fraction. However, compared to places like Google, where they have things like beer kegs and ping pong tables set up as perks, and it seems rare to see someone much over their 30s, Apple's workforce is quite a bit more mature.