Apple Store employees who sued Apple Inc (AAPL.O) over bag searches at the iPhone maker’s 52 brick and mortar outlets in California had their case certified as a class-action by a federal judge on Thursday. The ruling, from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, is part of a 2013 lawsuit alleging Apple should compensate thousands of store employees for the time taken to search their bags to ensure they did not steal any merchandise.