At least two Apple retail store workers complained directly to CEO Tim Cook that the company's policy of checking retail employees' bags as a security precaution was "embarrassing and demeaning," according to a court filing made public on Wednesday — as noted by Reuters (http://tinyurl.com/ofdvfp3).

The employee complaints, which a judge ordered unsealed, are part of a 2013 lawsuit alleging Apple should compensate employees for the time it takes to conduct the searches. One worker, whose name was blacked out of the court filing, told Cook in a 2012 message that Apple managers "are required to treat 'valued' employees as criminals."

Cook forwarded it to top retail and human resources executives with the query: "Is this true?" Reuters says the court filing doesn't include what responses the CEO received.