Abercrombie & Fitch settles religious discrimination case for $44K

Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to settle a long-running religious discrimination case for just over $44,000 after a federal appeals court dismissed the clothing retailer’s appeal of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) decision.

Samantha Elauf, a Muslim who was denied hire by Abercrombie because she wore a hijab or headscarf as part of her religion, first filed her case in 2008 with EEOC. Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to pay $25,670 to Elauf and $18,983 in court costs after the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Abercrombie in June, determining that an employer cannot refuse to hire a job applicant if the reasoning is based on avoiding accommodation for a religious practice.

“We were extremely pleased with the Supreme Court ruling in our favor, which has reinforced our longstanding efforts to enforce Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination,” said EEOC General Counsel David Lopez.  “We are now even more pleased to have final resolution of this case and to have Ms. Elauf receive the monetary damages awarded to her by a jury in 2011.”

Abercrombie’s “look policy” for employees prohibited any head coverings. Elauf turned to the EEOC, citing religious discrimination. A lower district court awarded Elauf damages for discrimination and Abercrombie appealed to the Tenth Circuit court. According to the EEOC, a divided circuit court ruling found that the retailer had not had sufficient notice of Elauf’s religious practice since she did not explicit say she wore the hijab as part of her religious practice. However, evidence showed that Abercrombie never informed Elauf of the “look policy.” The Supreme Court reversed the ruling, leading to this week’s settlement after years of litigation.