U.K. student wins settlement from Abercrombie
August 17, 2009
Abercrombie and Fitch have been found guilty by a U.K. employment tribunal of unlawfully harassing an employee with a prosthetic arm. Riam Dean who was employed by the fashion retailer said that she had not been allowed to wear a cardigan to cover her arm as it would be in violation of the company’s “looks policy”.
Dean claimed that following the incident she was asked by somebody from head office whether it would be okay “to keep you in the stockroom until the winter uniform arrives.” An email was then sent to Dean from the head office saying that the 22 year old had been “erroneously placed on the shop floor.”
The tribunal awarded Dean 9,000 in compensation. However, they did not uphold claims by Dean that the company had discriminated against her because of her prosthetic arm. They awarded the money because Abercrombie and Fitch should have made allowances for Dean’s condition.
The retailer claims that it has a strong policy on anti-discrimination but has been criticized in the past for only allowing young, good-looking people to work in its stores. In 2004 the company spent $50 million on employment discrimination settlements in the U.S.
May Dean, Riam’s mother said that her daughter was “very, very pleased” with the outcome.
Thanks to www.cantonrep.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
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