LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Jan 24, 2005--If you applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch and were turned down because of your race or sex, or if you worked at Abercrombie and were let go or relegated to the back room, you may be eligible for payment from the settlement of a class action lawsuit against the retail giant.
The settlement applies to all women and all African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos who either applied for a job at an Abercrombie store (or attempted to do so and were discouraged) or were employed there between February 24, 1999 and November 16, 2004. The stores include Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie kids and Hollister stores.
Claim forms are available right now and must be postmarked and mailed to the Claims Administrator by March 25, 2005. To get a claims form, visit www.abercrombieclaims.com or call toll-free 1-866-854-4175. The Gonzalez v. Abercrombie Claims Administrator is at P.O. Box 10564, Tallahassee, FL, 32302-2564.
''The settlement provides $40 million in compensation to Latino, African American, Asian American, and female applicants and employees discriminated against by Abercrombie,'' explained attorney Tom Saenz of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).
The settlement comes in the case of Gonzalez v. Abercrombie, a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in 2003 by MALDEF, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), and private plaintiffs` law firms on behalf of nine young adults of color, including students and graduates of the University of California and Stanford, who were refused sales jobs or terminated because of their race or ethnicity.
The original plaintiffs were joined by others across the country, including women who were discriminated against based on their gender. The plaintiffs` claims were validated by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In addition to the money for class members, the settlement requires Abercrombie to substantially reform its recruitment, hiring, job assignment, promotion, and training practices. ''It is a comprehensive package of reforms that will make minority and female employees feel more welcome,'' said plaintiff Jennifer Lu, a recent graduate of UC Irvine who was terminated from a southern California Abercrombie & Fitch store.
|
