Clothing company settles out of court
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Jackson Bell
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has agreed to pay $40 million to minority
employees and job applicants to settle a class-action lawsuit that
alleged the retail giant discriminated against them to promote its
white image, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The Ohio-based company is also required to implement policies and
start programs that promote diversity and prevent racial or gender
discrimination.
One of the lawsuit’s original plaintiffs is Anthony Ocampo, a
local man who claims he was not rehired during his summer break from
Stanford University because he is a Filipino American. Ocampo alleges
that an employee told him he was not getting his old job back because
“too many Filipinos” were already working there.
“It is important that Abercrombie seek out employees of color and
provides them the training and opportunities for promotion,” Ocampo
said in a prepared statement. Efforts to reach Ocampo were
unsuccessful.
Ocampo is an Eagle Rock resident who attended Holy Family Catholic
School in Glendale during his elementary school years.
The consent decree also requires the popular retail chain, known
for its “classic, casual American” clothing style, must hire a vice
president overseeing diversity and add 25 diversity recruiters to its
staff, along with requiring all hiring managers to undergo diversity
training.
In addition, Abercrombie will pay nearly $10 million for
attorneys’ fees and court costs.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2003 in San Francisco by Asian and
Latino groups accusing the retailer of hiring a disproportionate
amount of whites and keeping many minority employees from working on
the sales floor to perpetuate a predominately white image.
“We are extremely pleased with this settlement, and we are going
to see a lot of big changes in the stores nationwide,” said Minah
Park, an Asian Pacific American Legal Center lawyer. “There will be a
lot of strict monitoring, and a lot of people watching to make sure
Abercrombie adheres to the consent decree.”
Abercrombie has more than 700 stores and a workforce of 22,000.
Tom Goulet, spokesman for the company, did not return calls seeking
comment Tuesday.
The lawsuit is not the first time the company has been targeted
for alleged discrimination.
In 2002, thousands of Asian Americans protested a T-shirt sold at
the stores that featured two men with slanted eyes and wearing
comical hats below the words, “Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two
Wongs Can Make it White.”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which joined the
plaintiffs, estimates more than 10,000 minority men and women will
benefit from the settlement.