Abercrombie & Fitch Faces Class Action Lawsuit From 62,000 Employees For ‘Look Policy’

Abercrombie & Fitch is facing a class action lawsuit from 62,000 of the store’s employees over their controversial Look Policy.

Abercrombie & Fitch Faces Class Action Lawsuit

Barely over one month after the Supreme Court ruled that Abercrombie & Fitch had discriminated against potential employee Samantha Elauf because she is Muslim, a California judge has certified a class action lawsuit against the company.

Employees allege that Abercrombie & Fitch required them to buy clothes at the store to abide by a strict Look Policy – something that has been widely discussed in previous years, as it limits hairstyle, makeup, jewelry and physical appearance. Sixty-two thousand employees claim they were never compensated for the “compelled purchases” that occurred “each time a new sales guide came out.” Employees also claim they were forced to wear a kind of “uniform,” which included only Abercrombie & Fitch apparel and very specific shoe choices – Converse, Vans and A&F flip flops. The compelled shopping and uniform requirement are both violations of California’s labor codes.

Reed Marcy, an attorney for the plaintiffs, also claimed that employees were sent home if managers deemed that they were violating the look policy in any way, causing them to lose shifts and pay.

While the court only certified the claims relating to the clothing policy, the plaintiffs are also accusing A&F of wage theft and failure to give breaks as dictated in California law. (California employers are required to give employees one 10-minute break for every 4-hours of work or compensate them for a lack of break.) The allegation of wage theft is in relation to the clothing requirements, as some employees claimed they were forced to buy new A&F merchandise with money taken out of their paychecks.

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