The company has been involved in legal conflicts over its employment practices, rape and exploitation of employees, treatment of customers, and clothing styles.
Employment practices
In a 2004 lawsuit González v. Abercrombie & Fitch, the company was accused of discriminating against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women by preferentially offering floor sales positions (called Brand Representatives before the settlement and Models after) and store management positions to Caucasian males.[99] The company agreed to a settlement of the class-action suit, which required the company to (1) pay $40 million to African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women who applied and were not hired or worked in certain store positions, (2) revise its hiring, performance measurement, and promotion policies, (3) revise its internal complaint procedures, (4) appoint a Vice President of Diversity, (5) hire 25 recruiters to seek out minority applicants, (6) discontinue the practice of recruiting employees at primarily white fraternities and sororities, (7) include more minorities in marketing materials, (8) report to a neutral court-appointed monitor twice per year regarding its progress in those areas, and (9) report to the court once per year.[100][101][102]
In June 2009, British law student Riam Dean, who had worked at the company's flagship store in London's Savile Row, took the company to an employment tribunal. Dean, who was born without a left forearm, claimed that although she was initially given special permission to wear clothing that covered her prosthetic limb, she was soon told that her appearance breached the company's "Look Policy" and sent to work in the stockroom, out of sight of customers. Dean sued the company for disability discrimination, and sought up to £20,000 in damages.[103] In August 2009, the tribunal ruled the 22-year-old was wrongfully dismissed and unlawfully harassed. She was awarded £8,013 for loss of earnings and wrongful dismissal.[104][105]
In a lawsuit filed in September 2009, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores,[106] in U.S. District Court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 17-year-old Samantha Elauf said she applied, in June 2008, for a sales position at the Abercrombie Kids store in the Woodland Hills Mall, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The teenager, who wears a hijab in accordance with her religious beliefs, claims the manager told her the headscarf violates the store's "Look Policy".[107] The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on February 25, 2015,[108] and ruled 8–1 on June 1, 2015, against the company.[109]
In 2010, a Muslim woman working at a Hollister store in San Mateo, California, was fired. Before being dismissed, Hani Khan had refused Abercrombie & Fitch's human-resources representative's demand that she remove her hijab. The representative reportedly stated that the headscarf, which Khan wears for religious reasons, violated the company's "Look Policy". The Council on American-Islamic Relations has stated that the dismissal is a violation of non-discrimination laws, and filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[110]
In 2011, the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism started an investigation into the company's hiring and remuneration policies. The firm was suspected of only hiring personnel under 25 years old, making heavy demands on the physical appearance of its staff and rewarding a premium to male models that work shirtless.[111]
In November 2009, the company was added to the "Sweatshop Hall of Shame 2010" by the worker advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.[112]
Customer issues
In 2009, the company was fined more than $115,000 by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights for refusing to let a teenage girl help her sister, who has autism, try on clothes in a fitting room. The amount of the fine reflected "pushback" by the company according to Michael K. Browne, the legal affairs manager of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.[113]
A 16-year-old sued the company after discovering that she was being videotaped in a changing room by an employee, Kenneth Applegate II. Applegate denied the claim, but co-workers discovered his camera days later with the video on it.[114]
In 2010, a customer filed a class action relating to a 2009 holiday gift card promotion. The lawsuit alleges that the gift cards said "No Expiration Date" but Abercrombie voided and expired the gift cards in early 2010. In 2012, a judge certified a nationwide class in the case. In May 2013, Class Notice went out to potential a class members.[115] The company settled the case in 2016.[116]
Lawsuits against other parties
In 2002, the company filed a lawsuit against American Eagle Outfitters, claiming that American Eagle copied the company's garment designs, among other things. The lawsuit was based on a trade-dress claim, stating that American Eagle had very closely mimicked the company's products' visual appearance and packaging. Specifically, it claimed that American Eagle copied particular articles of clothing, in-store displays and advertisements, and even its product catalog. Despite the admission that American Eagle might have utilized very similar materials, designs, in-store displays, symbols, color combinations, and patterns as A&F, the court ruled that there was not an excessive level of similarity to confuse potential customers, and therefore the court ruled in favor of American Eagle.[117]
On October 18, 1999, the company had a lawsuit about making false and misleading statements concerning its growth while knowing the actual growth was less than Wall Street expectations,[118] and paid $6,050,000 for settlement.
Mike Jeffries
During Mike Jeffries' tenure as CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014, the company became synonymous with a hypersexualized and exclusionary brand image. Jeffries' marketing strategies, which emphasized "cool" and attractive youth, encouraged a corporate culture that has since been scrutinized for fostering discriminatory hiring practices and a sexually charged environment.
In 2023, allegations surfaced accusing Jeffries and his partner, Matthew Smith, of orchestrating an international sex trafficking ring between 2008 and 2015. The scheme reportedly involved luring young men, some of whom were Abercrombie employees or aspiring models, with promises of modeling opportunities, only to coerce them into sexual acts. Recruitment efforts allegedly utilized Abercrombie & Fitch email addresses, suggesting a potential overlap between the illicit activities and the company's operations.
Abercrombie & Fitch has publicly expressed being "horrified and disgusted" by the allegations against its former CEO and has stated that it had no knowledge of the alleged misconduct during Jeffries' leadership.[119][120][121]
