The Power of Retail

Abercrombie & Fitch has been known to hire people for its stores solely based on how they look and this policy is ruffling feathers once more. The brand has always hired people with the ‘abercrombie look‘ which is likely to be an illegal method and some say that the company could fact legal action. As long as the company does not discriminate on race or gender, it is all legal. According to Todd Corley, Abercrombie’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, the “face” issue is based more on the presentation of a person and not only on his or her face.

The ideal abercrombie sales worker is said to be “all American, clean, wholesome” essentially the “girl or boy next door” look. If you don’t meet this criteria, then you are sent to the stockroom and are not allowed to talk to customers at all. Staff is evaluated based on secret shoppers who ask questions like “Was the cashier attractive?” and so on.

“There’s no real problem to discriminate against ‘ugly’ people,” said Jahan Sagafi, a partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, the firm that represented the plaintiffs in the original diversity suit. “The problem is when you define beauty to incorporate white, which it essentially does at Abercrombie.”

Ms. Carmichael and Mr. Payne are both white and say they don’t expect legal or financial compensation. Instead, they believe their demotion signifies a disturbingly shallow mentality in youth-focused retail.

The job is “a cattle call and you are hired based on looks, not your ability to fold clothes or work with people,” Mr. Welch said.

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