the abercrombie lookimages.pcmac.org/.../abercrombie_article_page_1.pdf · abercrombie & fitch...

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Abercrombie & Fitch doesn'tjust sell clothes; it sells animage of a beautiful all-American life. For years, thegood-looking, shirtless young

men who stood at the stores' entrancesbeckoned shoppers to be part of the fan-tasy experience. Loud music played inthe dimly lit stores, which were pumpedfull of perfume.The company still refers to its sales staff

as "models" and "living advertisements,"and they're meant to look the part of theimage they're selling: young, beautiful,and clean-cut. The company's "look pol-icy"-which calls for a "classic East Coastcollegiate style" -spells out what salesstaff can wear: no hats, no black clothing,no facial hair. Women's hair should belong and nail polish is discouraged.So what happens when a teenager

who doesn't fit that mold walks into astore and asks to work there? Samantha

Elauf was 17 when she applied for ajob at an Abercrombie Kids store in herhometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Elauf,an observant Muslim, showed up for aninterview wearing a T-shirt and jeans-and a black head scarf.She didn't get the job.Abercrombie & Fitch

says the head scarf,known as a hijab,

clashed with its dresscode. But in a case nowbefore the SupremeCourt, Elauf claims the company discrim-inated against her because of her religion."I was a teenager who loved fash-

ion," says Elauf, now 24. "No one hadever told me that I could not wear ahead scarf and sell clothing."

The Abercrombie look:Shoppers outside a New York store

on an important question involving thereligious freedoms guaranteed by theConstitution: How far should privatecompanies have to go to accommodatethe religious beliefs of their employees?

"The balancing actis between the appli-cant who's saying herreligious rights wereinfringed and theemployer who has aright to hire who theywant," says Barbara

McGraw, a law and ethics professor atSaint Mary's College of California.The First Amendment to the

Constitution protects the right of allAmericans to freely practice their reli-gion. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 pro-hibits religious discrimination in hiringby public and private companies and byfederal, state, and local governments. (Italso prohibits racial and gender discrimi-nation.) Under Title VIIof the CivilRightsAct, employers must make a "reasonable

Employers mustmake a 'reasonableaccommodation'to an employee'sreligious beliefs.

Freedom of ReligionThe case, E.E.O.C. v. Abercrombie &

Fitch Stores, asks the Court to weigh in

... Watch a video about covering the Supreme Court at upfrontmagazine.com

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