Diversity Case Study Analysis In 2003, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) was sued by current and past members of its sales force as well as by applicants who were denied jobs, all of whom...

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Diversity Case Study Analysis


In 2003, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) was sued by current and past members of its sales force as well as by applicants who were denied jobs, all of whom claimed racial discrimination. The plaintiffs, in a class action lawsuit that grew to include 10,000 claimants, alleged that A&F favored whites in a variety of ways in order to project an image of A&F’s “classic American” look. Plaintiffs alleged that people of color were discouraged from applying for positions visible to the public and were instead steered to stockroom jobs. The suit was eventually settled in 2005 for $40 million, providing at least some evidence of a lack of diversity in the retailer’s operations. This lack of diversity consciousness is similarly relevant to the decisions A&F made in 2002 before the lawsuit was filed. A&F opted to produce a line of T-shirts designed to poke fun at particular ethnic groups. More recently, A&F was sued by a young Muslim woman who was denied employment because she wears a headscarf because of religious beliefs.The caserests on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act(Links to an external site.),which makes it illegal to "fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual ... because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." In June 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the job applicant, noting that A&F had violated provisions of the Civil Rights Act in failing to hire an otherwise well-qualified applicant because of her religious affiliation.


In a paper ofat least 2,100 words(exclusive of title, abstract and reference pages), analyze the case of Abercrombie & Fitch. Begin by conducting an Internet search for news articles about the 2003 lawsuit, the offensive t-shirts, and 2015 case before the Supreme Court. Then, address the following questions:



  1. What patterns do you see in A&F’s treatment of individuals from non-majority backgrounds?

  2. What ethical issues are associated with A&F’s behavior? Explain which ethical principle or principles the company has violated and which ethical theory or theories you think makes for the best analysis of the situation.

  3. The 2003 lawsuit against A&F was legally well-founded (in terms of the outcome), but was the lawsuit ethically well-founded? Why or why not? How about the 2015 court case? What legal and ethical principles are involved in this more recent lawsuit involving the right to wear a religious head covering?

  4. What has A&F done to respond to the lawsuits and to the other challenges to its corporate practices related to treatment of minority groups? To what extent do you believe A&F’s actions have been sufficient? What evidence can you find that A&F has changed its corporate practices?

  5. Would diversity training based in deontology or utilitarianism or virtue ethics help to prevent such insensitivity from happening in a company such as A&F? Why or why not?


In addition to required readings and any websites from which you access information, referenceat least
four additional academic sources(academic journal articles) to support your analysis, evaluation and recommendations.

Answered 2 days AfterOct 23, 2021

Answer To: Diversity Case Study Analysis In 2003, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) was sued by...

Deblina answered on Oct 26 2021
127 Votes
Running Head: Abercrombie and Fitch        
Abercrombie and Fitch        2
ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH
Table of Contents
Abstract    3
Introduction    4
The pattern of Treating Individuals from Non-Majority Background    4
Ethical Issues    6
Lawsuits    7
Response of A&F to Lawsuits    8
Diversity Based Training    9
Conclusion    10
References    11
Abstract
    The clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch has been practicing the tenets of different forms of discrimination, over a long period. The organization
has compelled several employees hailing from racially minor groups, such as African American, Latino American, and Asian American, to leave the job. In addition to that, the applicants have been subjected to intense racial discrimination, where even after recruitment, they have been given undesirable positions which kept them away from the common public eyes. In addition to that, there have been several complaints particularly regarding the clothing line of t-shirts, as they have repetitively made fun of the minority community, such as women, Irish Americans, skiers, and so on. Despite hundreds of complaints, the issue had not been taken seriously. The paper aims to analyze the different ethical issues that are closely associated with the lawsuits which were held against the organization.
Introduction
    The clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch has been practicing the tenets of different forms of discrimination, over a long period. The organization has compelled several employees hailing from racially minor groups, such as African American, Latino American, and Asian American, to leave the job. In addition to that, the applicants have been subjected to intense racial discrimination, where even after recruitment, they have been given undesirable positions which kept them away from the common public eyes. These applicants were denied repetitively from the role of sales practitioners, which in a way, represent the face of the organization. In addition to that, Abercrombie and Fitch have delved into an issue of discrimination based on religious differences. The following sections will draw distinct attention to the different aspects of the discrimination exercised by Abercrombie and Fitch.
The pattern of Treating Individuals from Non-Majority Background
    The organization namely, Abercrombie and Fitch have repetitively exhibited the notion of racial discrimination in their way of treating individuals hailing from non-majority backgrounds. The company has been said to exercise discrimination against the employees as well as applicants hailing from the racial background of African American, Latino American, and Asian American. They have been always denied job roles where they will be able to represent the face of Abercrombie and Fitch. That is to say, they have been given roles and responsibilities of job designations that do not require them to come to the knowledge as well as a view of the common public of the United States. For instance, the role of Brand Representatives who work at sales is given to the white counterpart. Therefore, to offer that classic look and attire, the representatives, applicants, as well as employees, have been denied getting an opportunity to try working and functioning in these roles.
    There are other instances of racial discrimination which have been exhibited by the company Abercrombie and Fitch. It has been observed that nine employees and applicants of color, who hail from the age group of young adults, have been constantly denied jobs in the arena of sales (BUSINESS INSIDER, 2013). In addition to that, few of these nine individuals have been terminated as well as sued based on racial discrimination and for the reason of being a person of color (LDF, 2006). The way of treating the white employees and the people of color was also completely different and represented an astounding range of racial discrimination, prejudice, and bias. However, there is more to the entire notion of racial discrimination that has been done by this particular organization. That is to say, in the name of manufacturing preppy t-shirts, the company Abercrombie and Fitch has sold products that represent racial discrimination at its utmost range.
The different graphics, texts, and so on that have been printed on the t-shirts represent an extreme range of racism against Asian Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and so on (LDF, 2006). For instance, the organization has used one of the Asian idols who is highly revered in the continent, namely Buddha in an extremely offensive manner. Some of the t-shirts also blatantly depict the century-old stereotypes of Asians, where they have reassociated the notions of kung-fu fighting, fortune cookie-speaking, slanty-eyed, and so on. In addition to the above-mentioned issues, some of the employees have stated that...
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