On November 10, Tuesday an Apple Store security guard in Melbourne asked a group of black Australian students to leave the retail store because it was concerned they might "steal something." The company has issued an apology to the teenagers for the racial profiling. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also responded to the controversy by distributing a company-wide e-mail that called the racism an unacceptable incident that does not represent the values of the "open" company.
BuzzFeed obtained the email, according to Tech Crunch. Cook reported that the Apple employee said that he was sorry for the event, and the chief executive personally apologized to the teenage students.
"Kate" is a senior manager at the Highpoint shopping center store. The day after the case of racial discrimination she met with the students of a nearby school and expressed a sincere apology on behalf of the Apple Store and the entire company. She also promised that the youngsters and their classmates were always welcome to shop at the store.
Apple Store Highpoint also invited the three students and their school's principal to revisit the store they were kicked out of, according to PC Mag. It helped to deal with the public relations nightmare.
Cook wrote that Apple Stores are open to customers from all walks of life. It does not matter what their race, gender, age, sexual orientation, income, religion, or point of view is.
He pointed out the diversity of Apple Store Highpoint. The team includes coworkers from Australia, and foreign countries including India, Egypt, and India. They also speak a total 15 languages including Mandarin, Portuguese, and Arabic.
Apple's CEO wrote in another post that he believes that the event at Highpoint was rare. However, it provided a chance for the company's employees to learn and grow.
In addition, Apple will refresh its employee training. It will focus more on "inclusion" and "customer engagement."
Cook explained that customers are the foundation of Apple. It is why the company focuses on quality products, attractive stores, and community involvement.
The website DiversityInc has released its 2015 "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" list based on over 1,600 participating companies. Apple did not make the list.
Here is a raw video of the Apple Store incident: