Tim Cook orders retraining for all Apple store staff after Melbourne controversy

Apple apologized on Thursday after a group of black youngsters was solicited to abandon one of its store in Melbourne, Australia, where a staff member had communicated concern they would shoplift. As videos of the incident went viral, the store’s senior store manager and Apple itself issued an apology to the boys, and now Tim Cook himself has spoken up about the matter, sending an email to employees that was recently leaked to Buzzfeed and other media sources.

You can see video of the incident in the video below.

I’m sure you are all aware of the unacceptable incident which took place at our store at the Highpoint shopping center in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday.

Apple boss Tim Cook has asked staff at all Apple stores worldwide to be retrained in “inclusion and customer engagement”. An American comedian, Mark Malkoff proved this point by making amusing videos with a goat inside an Apple Store, appearing as Darth Vader to have his iPhone repaired, and even having a pizza in the store.

Cook has now ordered retaining of all Apple Store employees following the incident, saying “store leadership teams around the world, starting in Australia, will be refreshing their training on inclusion and customer engagement”. But we can all be proud of Kate, one of the senior managers at the Highpoint store. We believe in equality for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. “The school’s principal later told a reporter that she delivered her message ‘with good grace, ‘ and one of the students said, ‘It feels like we have justice now'”. “All across our company, being inclusive and embracing our differences makes our products better and our stores stronger”, said Cook.

Cook’s email also stressed that respect for customer “is the foundation” of everything Apple does as a company.

“Because we were a group of black males – teenagers – and teenagers do a lot of stupid stuff but you still can’t give black people that stereotype”, the young man, Abdulahi Haji Ali, said. They sued Apple and the store’s private security company, but Apple successfully argued that neither employer condoned the alleged actions of the employee, and the case was dismissed.