Abercrombie Case Study

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Yes there employee practices at A&F could be categorized as discriminatory. Discrimination is defined as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. There was a very public case of discrimination. 17 year old Samantha Elauf applied to work at Abercrombie at a mall in Tulsa Oklahoma in 2008. The assistant manager who interviewed her deemed her qualified but worried that her hijab would violate the company’s “Look Policy,” (Talbot). The case was published in numerous news outlets one of them being an article from the New Yorker which brought up what is meant by discrimination in this case. “Any employer can have a dress code, of course, but it cannot use …show more content…

I had classmates in high school that worked at the local mall in the Abercrombie and the “look policy” that has come up was certainly a thing in the early 2000s. Their employees look strikingly similar to the models that showcased their clothing line and it was not by coincidence. Abercrombie has been known to hire solely based on a person 's looks. However I can see how you can look at Abercrombie as fair since, “Under the employment-at-will doctrine, workers in the United States are free to work for whomever they want to (or not work at all), and employers are free to hire whomever they want to, and fire them at will. The vast majority of workers in the United States are covered by the at-will doctrine” …show more content…

I found an interesting article that explain more as to how they have a double edged sword. “ Under the laws enforced by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal to discriminate against a potential employee because of that person’s race, color, religion, age, or disabilities. However, there are slight nuances to these rules. For example, under the same laws an employer can require all workers to follow a uniform dress code, even if it conflicts with some workers ethnic or religious practices, as long as the dress code is not treating specific employees less favorably than others because of their practices” (Daly). So A&F can say that none of its employees are to wear any type of head coverings however they cannot apply this rule to an employee, or potential employee like Samantha for wearing her hijabs. While it is extremely insensitive and shallow it really isn’t

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