Apple Lauded for Policy Against Caste-based Discrimination

16 AUGUST 2022 - Reuters has run a really interesting piece on Apple tackling caste-based discrimination among Indian workers in Silicon Valley. According to Merriam-Webster, a partial definition of caste is:

1: one of the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with the members of other castes

2 a: a division of society based on differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation, or race

Officially, Reuters says, “caste discrimination was outlawed in India over 70 years ago…” Funny/not funny thing about discrimination (or social stratification) though, it often sticks around even when it’s officially a thing of the past.

Said to be doing a decent job combating it is Apple. 9 to 5 Mac highlights the Reuters report. The piece says Apple actually updated its policies back in 2020 “to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of caste…” The Reuters piece says that was “added alongside existing categories such as race, religion, gender, age and ancestry.”

While folks often think of Apple as forward thinking, the report says Apple’s caste addition was actually in reaction to a suit against tech giant Cisco. “California’s employment regulator sued Cisco Systems on behalf of a low-caste engineer,” according to Reuters, after that engineer “accused two higher-caste bosses of blocking his career.”

Funny/not finny again: Cisco argued that there was no evidence of discrimination, and besides - there are no legal protections for members of various castes, so what are we even talking about?

For its part, Apple is said to have said:

Our teams assess our policies, training, processes and resources on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are comprehensive… We have a diverse and global team, and are proud that our policies and actions reflect that.

While the added language is definitely a good sign for Silicon Valley, and while India outlawed caste discrimination over 70 years ago, it’s hard not to think of this stance in light of Apple’s planned and anticipated growth in India. Can of worms… kettle of fish… right side of history… take your pick.