If you had been an Apple employee for more than a year prior to the launch of the iPhone, you were doing pretty good. There’s not much better than getting a free iPhone. Then came that nice $100 rebate for early adopters, which you may have found out you could get away with redeeming. Seems like a great deal, a free iPhone and $100 worth of credit, just for showing up to work.. Well, if you took advantage of that rebate, you won’t have to worry about showing up for work anymore.

According to sources, around 800 Apple employees took advantage of the $100 for the iPhone that they received for free. These workers are now looking for new jobs, as Apple doesn’t take kindly to thieves.

Sure, taking the rebate might seem pretty harmless, and maybe not grounds for termination. However, those employees would have known better than anyone that they were not eligible for the rebate (plus it’s in the rebate terms), so they willingly scammed Apple for a hundred bucks. While it may cost Apple more than $100 per employee to train new employees, these people have just shown that they’ll steal if the opportunity is presented, and Apple is better off without them.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how much retail can suck, I spent several years working for people like Staples, Best Buy and CompUSA. I can sympathize with anyone that wants to “stick it to the man,” but scamming them for $100 isn’t the way to do it. Especially not after they just gave you a free iPhone.

800 Apple Store Employees joining the unemployment line [via MYiTablet]