Clothing company settles out of court

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.