From what I understand, the employee was told she could wear the religious scarf if the color matched the A-F brand identity. A district manager noticed her wearing the scarf during a recent visit and contacted the corporate HR dept. When she refused to comply with the company dress-code policy, she was fired.

I'm siding with A-F on this one. Companies need to be able to control their brand. If employees are required to dress a certain way or even wear a uniform, potential employees know it coming into the job. If you don't like wearing a silly hat at the local Long John Silver's, don't go there to apply for a job.

Claiming religious discrimination by a clothing store for not being able to wear a certain type of clothing that differs from the clothing type and style being sold makes about as much sense as suing to be a lifeguard when you can't even swim.

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Eh, I would NORMALLY say rules are rules, but AF is an exception.
AF has always been more about promoting/protecting an "image" than their brand.

They can hide under protecting their brand, but it comes down to the fact that they would not dress one of their insanely large douches in their magazines in it.

It's a scarf, she can still wear tons of visible AF clothing. It's not like she had a burqa on.

Rules are rules, if you don't like them.........GTFO

Go start your own company and let them where whatever they want

I would have to say that the AF "image" is their brand, in a way synonymous.

To an extent, but the way they phrase it is basically their way of saying it's ugly.

This is the company that won't hire ugly or fat people so long as they can get away with it.

ts1227 wrote: They can hide under protecting their brand, but it comes down to the fact that they would not dress one of their insanely large douches in their magazines in it.

That is funny. I worked at A&F in New Albany for about a year and found it interesting that a clothing retailer had so many 10xlifesize pictures of naked dudes around every corner.

They are really big on "brand" and "culture" in a cult sort of way. I worked with an awesome group, but walking around the campus made me feel like I was in Halloween 3 (lot of robotic clones).

As for the dress code, I was told they prefered I wear at least one A&F logo and any non-A&F clothing could not have a visible logo and could not be from a direct competitor (Aero, AE, etc.). I squeezed my fat ass into a few shirts for awhile, more or less as a joke, before finally going back to my normal solid button ups and never had a problem.

A colleague worked with HR on one of their global initiatives and some of the early feedback for them was that their presentation was highly culturally insensitive (try as they did to preach diversity). Weird, weird atmosphere there.

ts1227 wrote: This is the company that won't hire ugly or fat people so long as they can get away with it.

This is 100% true, I used to work there. They get away with it because they don't call their employees sales people, they consider them in store models who are there to show off the product, and just happen to ring people up too. I could write a book about everything thats wrong with that place.

I don't shop there but, if I did, seeing someone in a scarf wouldn't stop me from buying whatever it was I wanted. The people going there will buy the stuff regardless...not sure why this scarf was a big deal.

I get a headache just walking by that store. How anyone can shop there and not pass out from the buckets of cologne is beyond me.

hangonsloopy wrote: I get a headache just walking by that store. How anyone can shop there and not pass out from the buckets of cologne is beyond me.

When I used to shop there you would see them walking through the store spraying cologne.

They still have the best cargo khaki shorts though

ccrunner609 wrote: I have never and refuse to ever wear anything from their store. Mass doushery going on there.

LOL!! MASS DOUSHERY!!! I'll have to show that to my son. He starts working there tomorrow

power i wrote: LOL!! MASS DOUSHERY!!! I'll have to show that to my son. He starts working there tomorrow

Oh good! Guess that means we don't have to bail you out of jail!

I have no issues with what happened. A&F is extremely anal about what their models wear on the floor. I worked at Ruehl during the holiday season for a few years. I got bitched at constantly!

Not sure where I stand on this one. But based on what I know about A&F, I'm surprised that anyone who is religious, and dresses accordingly, would want to work for a company that is so blatantly sexual.

Though I don't have any first-hand experience, I have heard horrible things about the way associates are treated by the retailer. They make it seem like an honor to work there but give you crap pay and treat you badly.

I'm surprised A&F is still around based on its recent financial performance.

i hate a&f..have never shopped there or even set foot in there store...same goes with hollister and aeropostale (sp?)....im more of the nordstroms/macys kind of guy

Hollister employees are the biggest tools in the history of retail.

I can't stand Abercrombie or Ruehl and spend $30 on a Tshirt. I like American Eagle though, not sure if they are owned by the same company? But they are a lot more laid back...at least that is how it seems.