SAN FRANCISCO - Youth
wear retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has agreed to
settle a suit with California labor regulators
over allegations that it forced its employees to
buy and wear its clothes while on the job.
The agreement with the state applies to nearly
11,000 people who worked at Abercrombie & Fitch,
Hollister Co. and abercrombie stores in the state
from Jan. 1, 1999, through Feb. 15, 2002. The
settlement details were first reported Tuesday by
the San Francisco Chronicle.
The state alleged that the company's
"Appearance/Look Policy" was enforced in a way
that required store employees to buy the company's
clothes.
"These are workers who, by and large, may have
been making more than minimum wage, but not a lot
more," said Miles Locker, a California Labor
Commission attorney.
Abercrombie confirms it has encouraged its
employees to purchase the company's clothes, but
denies that wearing the goods is a requirement.
The company revised its policy last February and
denies any wrongdoing.
"Both before and after implementing its revised
policy, Abercrombie has offered discounts to its
associates to encourage, but not require, them to
purchase and wear Abercrombie clothes. However,
those decisions are made voluntarily," Abercrombie
spokesman Tom Lennox said in a statement issued
Tuesday.
Under the terms of the settlement, Abercrombie
agreed not to force workers to buy its clothes and
will reimburse former employees for
Abercrombie-brand clothes purchased for working in
California stores during that period. Those
reimbursements range from about $200 to $490,
varying with each former employee's job status and
tenure.
The settlement with the state is separate from a
similar pending civil suit over Abercrombie's
dress-code policies.
The New Albany, Ohio-based clothing chain was also
sued last week for employment discrimination. That
suit alleges that Abercrombie discriminates
against blacks, Hispanics and Asians with a
corporate policy that requires all sales people to
exhibit an all-white "A & F look" and by
cultivating an overwhelmingly white sales force.
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