One-Armed Abercrombie & Fitch Worker Wins Wrongful Dismissal Case
A former UK Abercrombie & Fitch employee whose prosthetic arm didn't comport with the store's "look policy" has won a case against the clothier for wrongful dismissal and emotional trauma.
The store had initially allowed her to work on the floor, provided she wore a cardigan to hide her arm. When the corporate "Look Police" paid a visit, they flipped over her cardigan and demanded she be relegated to the backroom until the winter uniform, with its longer sleeves, arrived.
Someday we'll live in a world where even people who aren't perfect can work in shallow and superficial environments, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling black and white photographs of nubile teens frolicking in near-nudity. Someday.
British Student With Prosthetic Arm Wins Court Case Against Abercrombie and Fitch [Sky News] (Thanks to Noah!)
PREVIOUSLY: Sorry, Your Prosthetic Arm Doesn't Fit With Abercrombie & Fitch's "Look Policy"
(Photo: NickStarr)
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Comments:
Score one for the (good looking) employee.
Too bad that paltry amount is barely a slap on the wrist. This practice will continue until they lose real money as a result.
She had originally asked for a lot more, but the Judges only gave what was owed to her in compensation for lost work time and legal fees.
Was the big giant article photo on the main page really necessary? I mean I understand the importance of including it with the story, but a smaller version would have accomplished the same thing.
Tell me more about this nudity. I want to know...
It wasn't 'wrongful dismissal'. She quit after 5 shifts.
is cody rhodes
@GitEmSteveDave_IsTheStig: I think you're confusing GBP with Canadian dollars. There, an American dollar is work like 2 trillion dollars.
$15,000 USD is about 9,000 GBP.
@jayphat:
That's what tort reform gets you. Apparently, in the UK, you have to go before some sort of tribunal for this sort of thing. If they only have to dole out a few month's salary as punishment, Abercrummy doesn't have much of an incentive not to do it again.
The line has to be drawn somewhere regarding someone's physical features as a requirement for employment. I understand they want fit, young phsyiques to model their clothes, but if they keep going down this road, any race other than white won't comport with store's "look policy."
The photo for this post looks gay.
Abercrombie is the worst store ever. I kind of hate myself for shopping there when I was young.
From an article on Jezebel yesterday:
Riam Dean, the London woman who claimed she faced discrimination because her prosthetic arm did not fit Abercrombie and Fitch's "look policy," was awarded £8,000 for unlawful harassment, although the tribunal ruled that she hadn't suffered disability discrimination.
@ZeGoggles: Ugh, yeah. Thanks to pretty much everyone vanity sizing, places like Abercrombie and Aeropostale were the only stores where I could find jeans that weren't swimming on me.
@jayphat:
That's probably what a low level Abercrombie employee makes in a year. Imgaine all the overpriced shirts she could buy with that much money.
@whitenesss: The line has to be drawn somewhere regarding someone's physical features as a requirement for employment.
Really? I don't think it does, and unless you are applying for a job where physical appearance is the job, like being a model, I think it is pretty immoral to fire/demote/hide someone for looking a little different. I think the law would agree.
I am happy that she won! A&F is so full of itself with their "look" bullshit. I had retail work experience and applied for a job at a new A&F store that had opened. I was invited to do a "group interview" with so many damned people that we were forced to hold the interview in the mall parking lot! NONE and I mean NONE of the people I interviewed with had any retail experience. When asked why they wanted the job, some outright said that it was for the discount only! I was the Anti-crombie looking one in the bunch so I didn't get a call back. That was fine because you were required to wear only A&F clothing in the CURRENT SEASON! So the idiots that want to work there to spend their nearly minimum wage paychecks can have it! I needed a job, not a new wardrobe.
The BBC article really doesn't say. The only thing that really sheds any light is this: But her claim of direct disability discrimination was described as "not well founded".
@friendlynerd: Keep in mind that UK lawsuit payouts are much lower than in the US. Although small for a company like Abercrombie, it is big for the UK. The bad press will cost them a lot more.
@dragonfire81: Well I enjoyed it. I clicked on it to get a better look and now it's gone. Thanks! :P ;)
@MarketMaven: I think the clothes are ugly and overpriced, so I will never shop there even if it fits me (which is hard to find).
I bet you those legal fees alone cost them an arm and a leg.
I think the ruling was good, but if I remember the story it wasn't the prosthetic that violated the look. The worker had requested to wear the cardigan because SHE didn't want the prosthetic to be obvious. She was given the chance to remove the cardigan, or work in the back until winter clothes came out.
While I am inclined to think she should have had a thicker skin and not worried about the prosthetic, I am not in her shoes and the cardigan seems to me like a very reasonable accommodation.
I think the penalty against the company is reasonable, as long as they are also forced to change their policies and spend an arm and a leg on training to prevent future incidents. These cases should be a lottery win for the plaintiff.
If only the UK had right to reinstatement like Canada! Then she'd get the money, the right to wear the cardigan, and her job back, all in one fell swoop!
Good. I mystery shop Abercrombie occasionally (when the money is good enough to compensate for the loathing I feel when I'm there). One of the questions on the form is something like, "Is the salesperson attractive?" There are even pictures that show what they mean by attractive. It always makes me feel so creepy.
@AreYouConfusedYet?HowAboutNow?:
she can get two shirts, one without the-
oh fuck it, I'm going to hell for a lot worse, anyways,
SLEEVE
@segfault: Are you claiming this girl actually deserved more than $15k? She deserves some punitive damages for them being buttheads, and the lost wages, but not much more. There's no lasting impact on her.
How much would you award her? Millions?
@segfault: Your post is so "jock who can complete a pass but not a sentence".
;)
And yes, it is a little queer-o-sexual (as the Texans in that one Family Guy episodes called it).
@ZeGoggles: Sometimes I go in there just to get disoriented with my wife. I imagine it to be something like an epileptic seizure - shadows...BRIGHT!...LOUD MUSIC!...random people...many colors...drab...BRIGHT LIGHT!...shirtless teen...NEAR PACKAGE SHOT IN POSTER...
@lflurie:
Aaah, mystery shops for Mystery Shopping International eh? They also do Kmart and Holistar. I found the shop was horrific in pay however. They actually do ask if someone is attractive.
You only find hot ass young woman and buff as fuck guys in there.
In Hollister you'll find skinny guys and some buff dudes.
but in the end, you feel like smile after walking through their stores. Their CEO is a major douchbag who still thinks he's 18 or something. He's 50ish now.
@GitEmSteveDave_IsTheStig: Oh wow, I had almost forgotten LFO even existed. Thanks for the flashbacks to 10 years ago.
@Traveshamockery: actually, the idea is that the larger punitive damages are meant to be a deterrent to the company ever pulling this crap again.
$15K is asswipe money to those discriminating jerks at A&F. It's not like it hasn't happened before. They'll just laugh it off and sweep it under the rug.
@dripdrop: From what I can tell, if she had taken the cardigan off and they then relegated to the store room, that would be disability discrimination.
Instead, she obtained special permission to wear the cardigan. And the reason for the change in roles was for wearing the cardigan.
So, the win was for being harrassed at work.
@friendlynerd: $15k isn't even a slap on the wrist. It's more like an employee accidentally setting the thermostat lower for a month.
Only $15 grand award? Seems kinda small to me.