Abercrombie Under Fire

Clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch has been under fire recently. The company, which was involved in a class-act federal discrimination lawsuit, has agreed to pay $40 million to black, Hispanic, and Asian employees and applicants, who claimed that the company promoted whites at the expense of minorities that may have been equally or better equipped for a promotion. The lawsuit was originally filed by nine minorities, many recent graduates of Stanford University and the University of California, who were fired, or not hired because of their race. Susan Illston, the US District Court Judge that presided over the case, decided Tuesday that the company must adhere to a consent decree that will implement new policies, promote minorities, and prevent discrimination. Along with the $40 million, company owners, such as chief executive Mike Jeffries, must also pay another $10 million to cover attorney fees and monitor the implementation of new rules. Last winter, a similar lawsuit was also filed against A&F in New Jersey. The lawsuit was filed last summer by Asian and Hispanic workers, who claimed that stores hired a disproportionate number of whites. Abercrombie, which is famous for its “classic casual American” style, puts minorities in less visible positions, such as stock. Open any catalogue from the Ohio based company and the models are predominately, if not always, white. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, reported that A&F violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Abercrombie was “engaging in recruiting and hiring practices that exclude minorities and adopting a virtually all-white marketing campaign.” The EEOC says that no industry can discriminate, even as a marketing strategy. Eric Dreiband, a representative from the EEOC stated that ” race and sex discrimination in employment are unlawful, and the EEOC will continue to aggressively pursue employers who choose to engage in such practices.” He estimates that the lawsuit settlement will affect over 10,000 minorities. A&F reports that they have hired diversity consultant Todd Corley as the vice president of diversity for the company under the new decree. The decree also calls for an additional 25 diversity recruiters. The company promises that minorities will be a more significant part of marketing and advertising as well. Hiring on the basis of race isn’t the only bad thing Abercrombie has done recently, according to some. The American Decency Association, located at americandecency.org, reports that A&F is responsible for selling pornography to children. The fall 2004 catalogue has no pornographic images, although this has not always been the case. An anonymous spokesperson said before the catalogue came out that there would still be “kissing and beautiful people,” but fewer bare behinds and nipples. The American Decency Association has some suggestions for anyone who opposed Abercrombie, their racy catalogues, and lack of diversity. They recommend not shopping at Abercrombie or any of its subsidiaries, such as A&F kids and Hollister, returning things you have already purchased from these stores, and letting others know about their unethical practices in order to prevent this “evil corporation” from continuing to thrive. A&F’s Hampton Carney says, “We don’t think it’s racy at all, we think it’s just everyday college life.” You must be 18 in order to buy the catalogue, so the company isn’t breaking any laws. They have every right to market their products through nudity. Sex sells, doesn’t it? While the stores main target audience is college students, walk around any mall or high school, and its easy to see who is buying A&F merchandise. Abercrombie has also been accused of having their clothes made in sweatshops in Indonesia and other common American industrial areas abroad. They have been accused of purchasing their clothing from the same company as stores like Old Navy and K-Mart, which are both considerably cheaper. However you feel, and whatever the actual truth behind the allegations that follow Abercrombie wherever they have opened their doors is, whether or not they are allowed to continue is up to consumers. So far, Abercrombie hasn’t had much trouble while marketing themselves almost entirely to white suburban college kids.