Abercrombie & Fitch Faces Lawsuit Over Muslim Headscarf
This reminds me of when I was working at H & M and I started growing my beard, one manager had a problem with it.
I bet if I had the beard during the interview, I wouldn’t have gotten hired. What can you expect though, most of these stores are all about “Sex Appeal” and want clean shave men or women who dress loose because the customers they attract have that type of mentality. To them it’s just a business, but they don’t care about business ethics.
A & F sales are down, by cases like this coming out. It’s only going to hurt Abercrombie and Fitch even more, they are losing out on the purchasing power of the Muslim Market.
Elauf, who had experience working in retail, interviewed for a position at a Tulsa Abercrombie Kids store in June 2008. During the interview, she wore a black hijab, or headscarf, in line with Muslim religious tradition. According to the EEOC, Elauf got word through a friend, who worked in the store, that the headscarf cost her the job. The EEOC alleges that during its investigation, Abercrombie & Fitch flatly told the agency, in a position statement, that “under the Look Policy, associates must wear clothing that is consistent with the Abercrombie brand, cannot wear hats or other coverings, and cannot wear clothes that are the color black.”
No matter how the suit turns out, Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t need another headache. The company just announced more dismal sales figures: August same-store sales declined 29%. In 2004, the EEOC sued Abercrombie for limiting its hiring of minorities; that case was settled for $50 million. A British woman sued the company for discrimination after Abercrombie’s management allegedly shunted her to the stockroom for wearing a cardigan to cover her prosthetic arm. In August, a tribunal awarded her nearly $15,000. The EEOC has also sued Hollister, a teen retailer owned by Abercrombie, for allegedly firing a Pentecostal worker who asked to dress more modestly. That case is still pending.
As for Elauf, she is under attorney’s orders to keep quiet about the case. But her grandfather, Ata Elauf, is clearly irked. “They put a wedge into her Americanism,” says Elauf. “She grew up here speaking the language, going to school. Why did they do this? She’s sort of confused.”
Oh well, Allah swt is the best of planners. I guess it’s a good thing, that store doesn’t have a clean environment for the sister anyways.