Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 26 14:56:12 2009 Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 26 14:56:12 2009 Home U.S. Politics World Biz & Tech Health & Science Entertainment Travel People Photos Video Best & Worst Lists Magazine Business & Tech ADD TIME NEWS My Yahoo! My Google Netvibes My AOL RSS Feed See all feeds NEWSLETTERS Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 26 14:56:11 2009 Main Best iPhone Apps Global Business Small Business Curious Capitalist Nerd World The Cheapskate Blog Money & Main Street Videos Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 26 14:56:08 2009 SEARCH TIME.COM Full Archive Covers Abercrombie Faces a Muslim-Headscarf Lawsuit By Sean Gregory Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009 Najlah Feanny / Corbis Print Email Reprints Digg Facebook Twitter MORE Add to my: del.icio.us Technorati reddit Google Bookmarks Mixx StumbleUpon Blog this on: TypePad LiveJournal Blogger WordPress MySpace
No matter how the suit turns out, Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t need another headache. The company just announced more dismal sales figures: August same-store sales declined 29%. In 2004, the EEOC sued Abercrombie for limiting its hiring of minorities; that case was settled for $50 million. A British woman sued the company for discrimination after Abercrombie’s management allegedly shunted her to the stockroom for wearing a cardigan to cover her prosthetic arm. In August, a tribunal awarded her nearly $15,000. The EEOC has also sued Hollister, a teen retailer owned by Abercrombie, for allegedly firing a Pentecostal worker who asked to dress more modestly. That case is still pending.
Given the hyper-sexualized advertising that Abercrombie & Fitch has long embraced, it is no surprise that the company encourages its employees to let their hair down. But is the company practicing discrimination if it won’t hire a young woman who covers her head for religious reasons? Yes, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last week the EEOC filed suit against Abercrombie on behalf of Samantha Elauf, a 19-year-old community college student from Tulsa, Okla., who is Muslim. The suit alleges that Abercrombie “refused to hire Ms. Elauf because she wears a hijab, claiming that the wearing of the headgear was prohibited by its Look Policy,” or employee dress code. The suit says that Abercrombie “failed to accommodate her religious beliefs by making an exception to the Look Policy. These actions constitute discrimination against Ms. Elauf on the basis of religion.” (See pictures of being Muslim in America.)
Related Audio
As for Elauf, she is under attorney’s orders to keep quiet about the case. But her grandfather, Ata Elauf, is clearly irked. “They put a wedge into her Americanism,” says Elauf. “She grew up here speaking the language, going to school. Why did they do this? She’s sort of confused.”
Was Abercrombie & Fitch within its rights to enforce its dress code? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits religious discrimination. “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire …. any individual … because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin,” the law states. The key language, says Stewart Schwab, an employment lawyer and dean of Cornell Law School, is found in a 1972 amendment to Title VII. This amendment defined “religion.” It reads, “The term ‘religion’ includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”
Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Mon Oct 26 14:56:12 2009 More News from Our Partners CNN 5 gadgets from the near future Optical illusions: How our eyes can trick us What happens on Facebook when you die? Huffington Post Robin Shaffert: Workplace Flexibility and People with Disabilities Henry Blodget: The Full Story Of How Tim Geithner Secretly Bailed Out Wall Street And Screwed The Taxpayer Last Fall New York Times Spotlights AHIP, PhRMA Lobbyists DailyFinance.com New homes sales dropped unexpectedly in September Larry Ellison wins latest court battle over America’s Cup Pandora’s founder: We can make the internet radio business work Rotten Tomato RT’s Movie Location Guide - London as Elsewhere Sink Your Teeth Into RT’s Best Vampires Movies List! Exclusive: Coen Brothers Talk True Grit Life 29 Rare & Unusual Phobias LIFE on Halloween 12 Creepy Death Masks Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Thu Oct 01 09:20:17 2009 Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 09:41:50 2009 Top Stories on TIME.com Karzai’s Problem Brother: Drugs, Spies and Controversy Michael Jackson’s This Is It Review: He’s Still a Thriller As Tensions Rise, Jerusalem Could Pose a New Crisis Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 12:14:31 2009 More on TIME.com » The Public Option: Let’s Not Opt Out and Say We Did What Happens to Your Facebook After You Die? The Afghan President’s ‘Radioactive’ Brother Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 12:13:36 2009 Quotes of the Day » Get &,christian audigier; Share “It’s one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer.” MARK GAGAN, police lieutenant, on the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl in Richmond, Calif., that took place on school grounds after a homecoming dance, while up to 20 people watched but did not intervene More Quotes » Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Tue Oct 27 14:54:53 2009 Today in Pictures » Major Damage Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Aug 12 06:00:13 2009 Stay Connected with TIME.com Learn More » Subscribe to RSS Feeds Sign Up for Newsletters Add TIME Widgets Read TIME Mobile on Your Phone Become a Fan of TIME Get TIME Twitter Updates Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Sat Oct 03 01:27:54 2009 © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | RSS | Newsletter | TIME For Kids | LIFE.com Subscribe | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Media Kit | Reprints & Permissions | Opinion Leaders Panel | Help | Site Map
Still, this case is far from a lock for Elauf. “You can’t give a blanket statement that this clearly violates her rights,” says Schwab. “Employers often win cases involving dress codes. There’s a general feeling that employers are entitled to set an image in their stores.” If a company sells sex — you can sometimes find a shirtless male model hanging out in front of Abercrombie stores — let’s face it, head coverings aren’t ideal.
Time.com on Digg Upcoming Popular Today
POWERED BY digg
Host Katherine Lanpher talks with TIME healthcare writer Kate Pickert about young invincibles and the health care debate, and Justin Fox about why bonds aren’t a sure bet
Read “Brief History: Affirmative Action.”
Elauf, who had experience working in retail, interviewed for a position at a Tulsa Abercrombie Kids store in June 2008. During the interview, she wore a black hijab, or headscarf, in line with Muslim religious tradition. According to the EEOC, Elauf got word through a friend, who worked in the store,True Religion jeans, that the headscarf cost her the job. The EEOC alleges that during its investigation, Abercrombie & Fitch flatly told the agency, in a position statement, that “under the Look Policy,ed hardy, associates must wear clothing that is consistent with the Abercrombie brand, cannot wear hats or other coverings, and cannot wear clothes that are the color black.” Elauf is suing for back pay and compensation related to emotional pain and anxiety. “If these allegations are true,” says Chuck Thornton, deputy director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, “they are serious. In this day and age, it’s not acceptable. Certainly, a headscarf is part and parcel of the Islamic experience.” (Read “How to Reach Teens in a Recession? Ask Aéropostale.”)
Print Email Reprints Digg Facebook Twitter MORE Add to my: del.icio.us Technorati reddit Google Bookmarks Mixx StumbleUpon Blog this on: TypePad LiveJournal Blogger WordPress MySpace Most Popular » Full List » MOST READ MOST EMAILED Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 12:20:14 2009 What Happens to Your Facebook After You Die?Growing Up bin Laden: Osama’s Son SpeaksMichael Jackson’s This Is It Review: He’s Still a ThrillerDyson’s Bladeless Fan: Worth the Hefty Cost?Plus-Size Supermodel Crystal RennKarzai’s Problem Brother: Drugs, Spies and ControversyAs Tensions Rise, Jerusalem Could Pose a New CrisisThe Public Option: Let’s Not Opt Out and Say We DidParanormal Activity: A Horror PhenomenonDespite Its Woes, California’s Dream Still Lives Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 12:21:01 2009 What Happens to Your Facebook After You Die?Michael Jackson’s This Is It Review: He’s Still a ThrillerDespite Its Woes, California’s Dream Still LivesGrowing Up bin Laden: Osama’s Son SpeaksREITs and Commercial Real Estate’s VictimsKarzai’s Problem Brother: Drugs, Spies and ControversyAs Tensions Rise, Jerusalem Could Pose a New CrisisDyson’s Bladeless Fan: Worth the Hefty Cost?First Amex and Visa, Now Here’s BartercardWalmart, Target, Amazon: Book Price War Heats Up Vignette StoryServer 5.0 Wed Oct 28 12:13:27 2009 Quotes of the Day » Get & Share “It’s one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer.” MARK GAGAN, police lieutenant, on the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl in Richmond, Calif., that took place on school grounds after a homecoming dance, while up to 20 people watched but did not intervene More Quotes » For use in rail of Articles page or Section Fronts pages. Duplicate and change name as necesssary to distinguish.
Download | Subscribe
This case could hinge on a jury’s interpretation of the phrase “undue hardship.” If Abercrombie & Fitch had made an exception of its Look Policy for Elauf — a “reasonable accommodation” — would that move have hurt the Abercrombie brand? On the surface, that argument seems specious, at best. Would shoppers at that Abercrombie Kids store have been so jarred by the hijab that they wouldn’t have bought the company’s jeans? If the company makes that case, it doesn’t think much of the religious tolerance of the good folks of Oklahoma. (Read “Abercrombie & Fitch: Worst Recession Brand?”)
When contacted for a response, Abercrombie & Fitch issued the following statement: “We cannot comment on pending litigation. We have a strong equal-opportunity policy, and we accommodate religious beliefs and practices when possible. We are confident that the litigation of this matter will demonstrate that we have followed the law in every respect.”
鐩稿叧鐨勪富棰樻枃绔狅細
