Arabic version: إلزام آبل بدفع 18 ألف دولار بسبب الوصول إلى الحمّام
According to ABC News, Apple has been ordered to pay $18,000 in compensation to a former employee at its Canberra Centre store after the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal found he experienced indirect discrimination over bathroom access.
The man worked at the store from late 2019 to early 2024 and has a bowel condition that requires frequent and sudden use of a bathroom. Before renovations were completed in 2024, the store’s accessible bathroom was used for storage, as a change room and to access a cleaner’s closet.
He often had to wait to use the standard staff toilets. When he used the accessible bathroom, stored equipment made it “very tight and unsafe”, the report said. He complained to the ACT Human Rights Commission, which referred the matter to the tribunal.
Senior tribunal member Robert Orr dismissed claims of direct discrimination but found the employee had been disadvantaged because of his disability. Apple said equipment had been kept in the bathroom because of limited space, and that managers allowed breaks and use of public toilets in the shopping centre.
Mr Orr said the discrimination was not “intentional, calculated or cruel”, but found there was effectively a requirement for the man to use the standard bathroom. The tribunal also dismissed claims related to working from home and found insufficient evidence for psychological injury and loss of earnings. The man had sought $20,000 for past economic loss and $50,000 in general compensation.
