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Class Action Certified Against Abercrombie & Fitch Because of the Company's "Look Policy"


Readers might remember a recent United States Supreme Court decision from June in which the Court considered an issue over whether an Abercrombie & Fitch store discriminated against an applicant because she wore a head scarf to her interview (which did not conform with Abercrombie's "Look Policy".  (United States Supreme Court Issues Opinion in Abercrombie & Fitch Case).  

Recently, a federal judge in California certified a class action lawsuit for approximately 62,000 Abercrombie employees.  The employees allege that Abercrombie forces its workers to wear its clothing (which requires employees to buy new clothing every time Abercrombie issues a new sales guide) but will not reimburse them for the purchases.  These alleged acts are in violation of California's labor codes.  

As well, Abercrombie allegedly sent employees home or reduced their shifts if they showed up to work and did not meet the company's strict appearance requirements.  The plaintiffs' attorney labeled this conduct as discriminatory and illegal.  That could very well be the case if proven to be true.

At this point, this case is still in the very early stages of litigation.  We have a ways to go...but Abercrombie just cannot seem to catch a break lately.


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