I dunno how I feel about this.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has agreed to pay $40 million to black, Hispanic and Asian employees and job applicants to settle a class-action federal discrimination lawsuit that accused the clothing retailer of promoting whites at the expense of minorities, lawyers said Tuesday……The lawsuit originally was filed last June in San Francisco by Hispanic and Asian groups charging that Abercrombie & Fitch, known for its “classic casual American” clothing styles, hires a disproportionately white sales force, puts minorities in less-visible jobs and cultivates a virtually all-white image in its catalogues and elsewhere. A second, similar lawsuit was filed against the company last November in New Jersey.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission joined the private plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which alleged that Abercrombie & Fitch violated portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit specifically accused the company of engaging in recruiting and hiring practices that exclude minorities and adopting a virtually all-white marketing campaign…
… The original lawsuit was brought on behalf of nine young minorities, including students and graduates of Stanford University and the University of California, who were denied jobs or fired based on their race.
“This agreement promises to transform this company, whose distinctiveness will no longer stem from an all-white image and workforce,”
Well…. it’s fairly fucking obvious anyway. Abercrombie, the king of gay porn, I just didn’t know people made a big deal. But if I think closely enough about other brands, it’s not THAT different. Look at FUBU! Abercrombie models don’t even wear any clothes! But, it’s great that some action was taken, it had to be done. It’s a good reality check to other brands who might be following the same trend.
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I’m glad you posted this because the little blurb we read in the Boston Herald today made it seem like the lawsuit was based solely on Abercrombie projecting a white society image through the use of predominantly white models. But if they were actually denying and firing minorities it makes a little more sense.
Yes. And that reminds me of why some action was taken ON THEM. I don’t remember ever seeing anybody non-white working at an Abercrombie. Even in Rhode Island, where the diversity is more closer to the national average, that store was always a don’t ever step in, don’t get caught walking out… especially if you had an established ‘urban’ image. But it’s a love/hate deal, and I could care less.