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The Classic Look of Discrimination: Abercrombie & Fitch's Struggle to Manage Diversity
Copyright ©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

2. Copyright ©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Company History
David T. Abercrombie founded Abercrombie and Co. in 1892 with the intent of providing high-end outdoor products to an elite clientele.
In 1904 Abercrombie was re-launched as Abercrombie & Fitch Co. after a merger with Ezra Fitch.
After multiple takeovers, today A&F has 1,100 stores in U.S. Canada, and United Kingdom.
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The A&F Look
The CEO Michael Jefferies described Abercrombie & Fitch’s target segment as an “18-to-20-year-old college guy who has a good body and is aspirational.”
He continued, “Do I excluded people--- absolutely. Delighted to do so.”
A&F has a strong emphasis on hiring the best looking people who fit the retailer’s particular brand image.
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4. A&F Marketing Campaign
The company selects models for its catalogs from among the store personnel.
Store managers routinely conduct grading sessions of store employees, assigning grades based upon looks.
A&F stance is it “is perfectly legal to market aggressively to a particular audience and build your brand in a particular way.”
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The “Look Book”
The “Look Book” is an employee’s guide to adopting the image of A&F.
1996 copy read: “Our people in the store are an inspiration to the customer. The customer sees the natural Abercrombie style and wants to be like the Brand Representative….Our Brand is natural, classic, and current, with emphasis on style. This is what a Brand Representative must be; this is what a Brand Representative must represent in order to fulfill the conditions of employment.”
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The “Look Book” cont..
The Look Book includes descriptions of appropriate hair cutes and styles, prohibits a fad cut, shaving of the head, and dreadlocks for men and women.
Jewelry guidelines include directives that jewelry be simple and classic, no thumb rings, and no gold chains for men.
Some claim the “Look Book” prohibited most styles adopted by racial backgrounds and delineates styles and habits typical for people of color.
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Discrimination
A number of A&F policies and corporate culture reflect discrimination.
Asians, Pilipino, and African American employees were hired for the night shift.
A&F produced T-shirts with unflattering caricatures of Asians.
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8. Discriminatory Comments
“We’re sorry, but we can’t rehire you because there are already too many Filipinos working here.”
“A corporate official had pointed to an Abercrombie poster and told management at the store, ‘You need to have more staff that looks like this.’ And it was a white Caucasian male on that poster.”
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9. Class-Action Lawsuits
From A&F was hit with three class-action lawsuits:
Gonzales v. A&F
EEOC v. A&F
West v. A&F
All three lawsuits were resolved through mediation that began in April 2004 and settled a year later in April 2005.
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Lawsuits cont…
Gonzalez v. A&F was filed by 16 individual plaintiffs, alleged that the retailer illegally discriminated “against minorities on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin with respect to hiring, firing, job assignment, compensations, and other terms and conditions of employment.”
The EEOC found probable cause that Abercrombie violated Title VII.
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11. Abercrombie & Fitch Reaction
CEO Jefferies said, “We have, and always have had, no tolerance for discrimination. We decided to settle this suit because we felt that a long, drawn out dispute would have been harmful to the company and distracting to management.”
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12. Terms of the Consent Decree
Although Abercrombie & Fitch never pleaded guilty, it agreed to:
Pay approx. $50 million in settlement costs
Retain a diversity consultant
Establish an Office of Diversity within the company
Hire a Diversity Vice President
Revamp entire marketing campaign
Seek out qualified minority applicants
Maintain proper documentation for all recruiters
Establish benchmarks for hiring and employment
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Current Status
According to reports, the “Look Book” has been revised to represent a more diverse look.
A&F teamed with the Anti Defamation League to create and carry out diversity training on college campuses across the country.
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Critics
Many still believe that A&F is merely complying with the terms of the settlement and not utilizing the opportunity to create real change regarding the company’s hiring practices.
The company only show images with ethnic backgrounds on the Diversity page of its website, not on the homepage.
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Summary & Questions
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16. Credits
Power Point to accompany Opportunities and Challenges of Workplace Diversity:
Theory, Cases, and Exercises
By Kathryn A. Cañas and Harris Sondak.
Prepared by Kathryn A. Cañas and Ellen M. Donovan.
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