Ah, Apple—the tech giant we all love to hate and hate to love. When you’re not dreaming about the latest iPhone that costs more than your rent, you might be pondering its latest scandal: a lawsuit alleging that the company has been playing the age-old game of ‘women are paid less than men for doing the same job.’ Spoiler alert: this lawsuit got the green light to go ahead from a judge, which means they’re progressing faster than your Netflix queue.

The drama unfolded when a former Apple employee, Zee Bori, discovered that her male counterpart was raking in more cash for the same gig—thanks to a little something called an office printer. Classic workplace slip-up, right? One minute, you’re happily pressing ‘Print’ on your latest project, and the next, you’re exposed to blatant wage disparity. Bori exclaimed, “We were doing the same work, we were on the same team, we received the same performance review,” making it sound like a plot twist from a bad rom-com, but alas, it’s all too real.

But it doesn’t stop there! Another soul had a similar epiphany when she accidentally glanced at a male co-worker’s W-2 left on the copy machine. Turns out, he was raking in a whopping ten grand more than she was, while both were attending the same company meetings and fueling the same coffee machine. Jim Finberg, the lawyer on the case and all-around wage warrior, couldn’t believe it.

Newsflash: This isn’t just an Apple problem; it’s a Silicon Valley epidemic! Just look at Google, which dished out $118 million in 2022 to settle its version of this trainwreck. HP coughed up $8.5 million for a similar boo-boo.

Apple, which has a market cap bigger than most small countries, claims since 2017 it’s been all about that equal pay life. They even brought in a third-party expert to inspect their compensation practices like some parental check on your weekend plans. But Bori begs to differ: “It’s in the back of your mind, but it’s still a shock when you discover it,” she admits—revealing that the only difference she could see was her gender.

Oh, and let’s not forget Salesforce, which also had to admit it was playing favorites after an internal audit revealed that women were getting shortchanged. They set aside $3 million to fix their mistake. Because who doesn’t love a company that throws cash at their problems instead of addressing the root causes?

So, while you’re contemplating your next overpriced Apple gadget, remember: behind that sleek exterior lies an ugly wage gap, and lawsuits knocking at the door like an uninvited guest at a party. Let’s hope this prompts a little more introspection and a lot less greed in Silicon Valley.