Apple has been fined $2 million for denying some of its retail workers meal breaks.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2011 by four Apple employees in San Diego. They alleged that the company failed to give them meal and rest breaks, and didn't pay them in a timely manner, among other complaints.

Apple apparently flouted Californian law requires employers to give hourly workers a 30 minute meal break if they're working more than five hours a day. They're also require to provide 10 minute breaks for every four hours worked.

In 2013, the case became a class action lawsuit that included California employees who had worked at Apple between 2007 and 2012, approximately 21,000 people. Apple made changes to its scheduling policy in 2012.

It's unclear how much of the $2 million will go to the workers. If divided evenly, it would be just $95 per employee, but it's likely some of the money will go toward attorney fees.

The complaint says Apple's culture of secrecy keeps employees from talking about the company's poor working conditions. "If employees so much as discuss the various labour policies, they run the risk of being fired, sued or disciplined," the complaint reads.

Apple is not saying anything, but we assume that since it defended the case it did not believe it had done anything wrong. It is getting so Dickensian at Apple we suspect that this Christmas the Ghost of Christmas past will be visiting Tim "Scrooge" Cook and telling him to pull his socks up, before the universe does a Steve Jobs on him for helping to lower the standards of the world.