In 2017, after the owner of an industrial janitorial service Darla Drendel notified Apple of US$1.5 million in unpaid invoices for janitorial services, the tech giant terminated the contract, according to the cleaning service.

Apple managers had asked the owner, Darla Drendel, to come to Apple headquarters for a meeting and when she arrived they were "rude and dismissive," the cleaning service said.

In a tentative ruling Wednesday in California state court, Judge Cynthia Lie ruled that the conduct alleged in the lawsuit -- which includes an Apple manager referring to the service’s female owner as a "typical woman in business" who "thinks she is assertive, but she’s just pushy" -- was enough to allow the case to proceed to trial.

In her ruling, 'Judge Lie' found that the service had alleged "facts sufficient" to support its claim of discriminatory business practice. However, she rejected other claims, including that Apple had unlawfully breached its contract.

The case is Industrial Janitorial Service v. Apple Inc., 19CV357745, California Superior Court, Santa Clara County (San Jose). For more on this story, read the full Bloomberg report.