Clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch again stands accused of discriminatory employment practices. Earlier this month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the clothing chain on behalf of an 18-year-old Muslim woman. Halla Banafa claims that she was not hired for a job at a Bay Area Abercrombie & Fitch store because she did not fit the “Abercrombie look.” She says that the manager cited her head scarf on the interview form as the reason she did not fit the “look policy.”
The EEOC claims that the Abercrombie & Fitch look policy’s ban on head scarves is religious discrimination. The EEOC accuses the company of refusing to accommodate a potential job applicant’s religious beliefs. The company is also currently facing another religious discrimination lawsuit filed by a different Muslim woman who had applied and been rejected from a job in Oklahoma.
According to the Contra Costa Times, Abercrombie & Fitch settled a discrimination lawsuit in 2004 by paying $40 million to minority employees who claimed that they were passed up for promotions. The minority employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company accusing the company of systematically favoring white employees for promotions over their minority counterparts.
Source:
Abercrombie & Fitch hit with bias lawsuit from Muslim job applicant (Contra Costa Times)