Carla Grubb was hired at Abercrombie and Fitch for what she believed was a job on the sales floor. Instead, she found herself dusting, cleaning windows, and vacuuming the store. “I was always doing cleaning—they said I was a good window washer,” said Ms. Grubb, who happens to be black. “I should have received the same treatment as everyone else. It made me feel bad. No one should be judged by the color of their skin.”

The EEOC agreed with Grubb and filed suit against Abercrombie and Fitch for recruiting employees based on an image the company wanted to project and staffing their stores with sales people that were overwhelmingly white and athletic, just like their advertising and in‐store photos. Minority applicants found themselves hired only to do low visibility and back‐of‐the‐store jobs such as stocking and cleaning up, often after retail hours. The company was also found to have refused to hire minority students with impressive work and school records. The percentage of minority managers at Abercrombie stores was far below industry averages.

Abercrombie settled the suit to the tune of $50 million.⁸⁰ They didn’t admit any guilt, but did agree to do a better job of hiring and promoting minorities and depicting more minorities in their advertisements and catalogs.

Questions: 

1. Abercrombie and Fitch attempts to maintain a trendy and youthful look in their stores to support their products. Is there a way they can maintain that look without creating an adverse impact or adverse treatment in their recruiting, screening, and hiring practices?

2. Suggest a list of at least five things that Abercrombie and Fitch can do at the corporate and local store level to increase the number of minority applicants. Explain which of the things on your list would be most effective and why.

3. Are there other employers that you feel need to make a better effort at diversity? Do any of the permitted exceptions to Title VII justify their lack of diversity?

4. Research: How has Abercrombie been doing lately? What evidence can you find that they are making progress toward their diversity goals? Outline any new diversity complaints against the company.