Apple prohibits caste-based discrimination in updated employee policy; internet reacts

Tech giant Apple has become one of the first companies in the United States to explicitly prohibit caste-based discrimination.According to Reuters, Apple updated its general employee conduct policy about two years ago to forbid discrimination on the basis of caste.The code sits among Apple’s existing policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ancestry age and religion.The company has reportedly confirmed that it "updated language a couple of years ago to reinforce that we prohibit discrimination or harassment based on caste."The code was added to the anti-harassment sections and equal employment opportunity sections of Apple’s policy in September 2020.The new category goes beyond the policies enacted in most Silicon Valley companies. Apple has also been training its workers on the topic of caste-based discrimination so that they understand the issue better.The news was met with positive reactions on social media, with several users hailing the tech giant for its progressive attitude.Many people praised Apple for being the first tech giant to ban caste-based discrimination.One user wrote “People be like, "No bro caste discrimination doesn't happen anymore". Bruh it is so prevalent in Silicon Valley that apple had to ban caste based discrimination.” Another lauded Apple for taking this stand.Some people remarked that the step taken by the tech giant was “small” but important. As per reports, Apple updated its employee conduct policy following a case by California's employment regulator against tech company Cisco.The case was filed on behalf of a low-caste engineer who accused his higher-caste bosses of blocking his career prospects.Another tech giant, IBM, is also said to be training its managers in India on caste-based discrimination. As per reports, the company has updated its policy to include anti-caste rules. While IBM already had caste in its India-specific policies, it was later added to IBM’s global discrimination rules after the Cisco lawsuit. It declined to mention when it amended its policies.Many tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft do not specifically mention caste in their global policy. But the Cisco lawsuit has forced them to take a deep look at the issue. It remains to be seen if the policy will be followed by other companies.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.