A Lesbian, formerly employed by Apple Computer as a human resources compensation consultant, has slapped one of the nation’s largest computer manufacturers with a discrimination lawsuit.
This lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, may be one of the largest discrimination lawsuits filed against Apple Computer by a Lesbian.
The amended complaint, filed on May 16, 2005, alleges that Shaune Patterson was suspended for one month and then subsequently wrongfully terminated from her position, after she complained that her white counterparts, who were junior to her, were making higher salaries than she was. Patterson alleges that the suspension came one day after she complained of racial discrimination.
Patterson, who has an MBA from the University of Texas, amended her complaint to include claims of sexual orientation and genetic characteristic discrimination. Prior to her one-month suspension, Patterson alleges that one of Apple’s managers wrote a memo describing her as a “rather obese-sized black lesbian.” According to Patterson’s attorney, Waukeen McCoy, “Apple discounted my client’s achievements, choosing to base the decision to discipline not on her performance, but rather on her size, race, and sexual orientation.” McCoy was the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in one of the largest U.S. History racial discrimination suit, Carroll v. Interstate Brands Corporation, which rendered a verdict for $133 million in August of 2000.
Source: PRNewswire.
If its true, Apple deserves a little more than a slap on the wrist…
However isn’t Apple very liberal? Discrimination just doesn’t seem to fit their persona…
Interesting the development of this story will be.
Advice for Patterson: less doughnuts and more “hot dogs.”
I take it the person in question is not from the island of “Lesbos”; therefore you shouldn’t be capitalizing “lesbian” unless, as always with MDN, there is some proselytizing involved.
At least we know MDN is always evenhanded when it comes to platform comparisons…
Human Resources has to be one of the most bloated (hah) and wasteful parts of a company. All these losers do is turn into demi-Gods who have the illusory belief that they are actually managerial and important. These people go into HR because they aren’t qualified for anything else.
Since when is Lesbian a proper noun???
Hey, let’s not forget that lesbians played a major role in developing the internet to its state of greatness that we all take for granted today.
“Apple discounted my client’s achievements, choosing to base the decision to discipline not on her performance, but rather on her size, race, and sexual orientation.”
What achievements? Eating a lot of Krispy Kremes?
“Patterson alleges that the suspension came one day after she complained of racial discrimination”
Can you say, “Gold digger?” I knew you could.
“…claims of sexual orientation and genetic characteristic discrimination.”
Gimme a fscking break.
This is simply another ‘Anna Ayala’ making vacuous allegations to try and get a wad of cash out of Apple.
Hey Shaune, do your damn job and you won’t get fired.
The word “lesbian” is capitalized in the press release. MacDailyNews did not add the capitalization, so don’t blame MDN.
I’m a little in shock at the immature posts being left here by readers. This lawsuit isn’t a joke, and neither is attacking the person filing the suit. If there is any truth to the accusations, then Apple must find the manager who created the memo, and discipline them, even going as far as firing them. There is no excuse for such behavior in corporations these days. However, if she is bringing this lawsuit against Apple without any facts to support her case, then she has little chance to win.
It is entirely possible, that this is a case of someone who is trying to play the role of a victim, bringing attention to themselves. I have seen this in the past. “I’m not like you, you don’t understand me, I don’t like being left out, I’ll make you pay attention to me.” and of course, this causes problems within the company, and so the ‘troublemaker’ is released from their job, only to come back and cause a bigger problem.
I’m going to watch this particular case closely. I want to know if there is any basis for it, or if this is a case of someone taking advantage of Political Correctness to gain money, or revenge over something.
Oh freaking please. It is so not true. I’m so sick of racial discrimination law suits. THEY ARE ALL CRAP.
White counterparts make more. My guess is the white counterparts work harder, don’t run around worrying about their whiteness as part of their daily routine, let alone thier sexual orientation.
All these suits do is harm people. Yup, American Business folk, think long and hard before you hire gays, lesbians, women, or black people. Especially any combination of those. One false step and you get sued for a hundred million dollars.
sounds like it’s straight from
CrazyAppleRumors.
heheheheheheheheheh
was she a ninja????
Dak Roland. Give it a fricking break.
This is just a case of a big fat black lesbian looking to get rich quick.
“Oh woe is me. I’m a big fat black lesbian, and all those skinny white normal people don’t like me.”
Lose some fricking weight and stop bothering people about your race and sexuality. Concentrate on the job and everything will be fine.
And another thing… how does she know how much others make unless she’s abused her positiion in HR to check their salaries. She should be fired for that alone.
I dunno. Suing in America for obscene amounts is just too prevalent. If this person got canned for the wrong reasons then I guess she should get some compensation but 133 million is ridiculous.
The size of the settlements that come thru pretty much guarantee that people are gonna be suing if they even have a wisp of a chance of a settlement. Much better odds than buying a lottery ticket I would say. Companies have to think of this as one of the costs of doing business I guess. And we all know who the costs of business end up getting passed along to – We the Consumers.
Black
Lesbian
Fat
Ooooohhhh!
BIG $$$$$$$$$
Here’s the likely story:
– Employee doing a poor job. Supervisor tells her to improve. (Occurs multiple times)
– Employee gets upset. Starts believing she is being discriminated against and looks at everything as a racial/sexual orientation slight. Finally claims racial discrimination.
– Supervisor decides there is no racial/sexual orientation discrimination occurring. Believes employee cannot work well with others as long as this claim is on the table. Suspends employee while further investigation occurs.
– Investigation occurs. No discrimination is found. After further discussions, Supervisor decides to terminate employee because no common ground can be found – atmosphere has been poisoned.
– Employee sues.
Anon
that is a terrible, terrible comment. I feel terrible for laughing at it.
thelonius
Statements of the form ‘all _____ are _____’, when applied to human behaviour, generally tend to be self-discrediting. Fine for physics, not fine for persons, if your aim is to convince anyone of anything.
I agree that these lawsuits have an air of opportunism about them, but saying that “they are all crap” is a disservice to legitimate complaints. There are still some dinosaurs roaming around corporate America. Just as we need to be vigilant about punishing those who put forth and capitalise on frivolous lawsuits, we also ought to be vigilant to eradicate corporate sexism racism, and homophobia.
Hey Steve,
I wish Microsoft was as good on this subject as Apple is! This woman doesn’t have a chance. She shouldn’t have chosen to work for a company with such a sterling reputation for treating gays and minorities as fairly as Apple does. They make Microsoft look moderate on the subject!
Why do the words “fat angry Lesbian” have such a nice ring to them? hm….
While I understand the need to defend Apple (I do it a lot), unless you know the background of the story, I wonder how so many posters can judge the case by the short story on MDN. I’m no fan of big lawsuits either, but unless you’ve really been discriminated against, I don’t believe it’s so easy to understand what it feels like. Yes, Apple is one of the most liberal companies I know of, but I am sure that there are still employees (and bosses) that are prejudicial. It could be that the comments are real. It also could be that this is a baseless lawsuit. But to decide that she’s a lazy fat bitch just from this story is unfair. Then again, if you’re that judgemental, you’re probably not going to take my word for it, now are you?
Hey, my magic word is “reaction”!
“Advice for Patterson: less doughnuts and more “hot dogs.”
Holy shit, that is one funny post. It’s wrong, sure. But funny as hell.
“It is so not true. I’m so sick of racial discrimination law suits. THEY ARE ALL CRAP.”
thelonious Mac,
That is just about the stupidest thing I’ve ever read on this forum, and that’s saying a LOT. So by your logic, the Brown vs. The Board of Education suit, which struck down segregated schooling and is seen as one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement, was “crap”? Minorities getting the right to vote was “crap”? Methinks,you’re full of shit.
And all you folks making disparaging remarks about “fat black lesbian gold-diggers”, it’s up to the courts to decide whether the case has any merit. Until you know the details, I’d strongly suggest that you all shut the fuck up. Blindly rushing to Apple’s defense by making truly offensive remarks about the complainant only marks you as pinheaded fanboys. Just because Apple makes products you like doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a likable company.
I’ve said it here before: separate who they are from what they do. I think that Sean Penn is an insufferable jerk, but he’s one of the finest American actors ever, and I love his films; I think that Steve Jobs is one of the greatest visionary minds in the tech industry, but I don’t think a more arrogant prick has ever walked the earth. By all means, love your Macs, but retain some objectivity obout the public corporation that makes them.
Give me a break!!! Being fired is ALWAYS about race, sexual orientation, etc. isn’t it? They’ve always got to play that card, never take responsibility for their own shortcomings, and try to suck a company dry instead of getting off their own fat ass and moving on to something else. The most dangerous person in the world: Black Lesbian. Makes me sick. I trust Apple is smart enough to terminate for the right reasons and will defend it’s position vigorously.
So what if the memo describer her as a “rather obese-sized black lesbian”.
If she is obese she has no claim for that adjective.
If she is black she has no claim for that word as well.
And lastly if she is lesbian then she cannot claim that is inaccurate either.
It seems to me that the manager concerned was merely applying ‘truth in advertising’ type legislation to his memo.
If any of the above are not true then she can claim for libel and possibly the other points as well, however a perfect defence against libel is either
“the statements are true” or
“the author reasonably and sincerely believed them to be true”
For her to win a claim on the basis of sexual, racial or size discrimination she will have to demonstrate far more than a memo that appears to be true.
As for her juniors getting paid higher than her, she better be careful. If there is a bonus component to the pay package she will have to prove that the bonus calculations were unfairly applied. If Apple can demonstrate that the others fairly earned any bonuses and that the same rules were applied to her, then she is done for. At least if there is any justice, she will be.
On the other hand, if she has been discriminated against and she can easily prove it, then she should win. Not $133 million, that is disproportionate.
Anyway, that’s my two bits worth.