Abercrombie & Fitch is a clothing line company that retailers clothing wear. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Samantha Elauf (Liptak 2015). Elauf sued the company in 2008, claiming that the company failed to hire her because of her decision to wear a hijab during a job interview. Abercrombie & Fitch claimed that Elauf’s decision to wear a hijab was not consistent with their ‘Look Policy’ that prohibits the wearing of any headgear in the workplace (Liptak 2015).
Ms. Elauf argued that she was denied a job at the company because she wore a headscarf (hijab) during the interview. She further claimed that the interviewer did not remark on the hijab; either by asking her about her attachment to the headgear or her response regarding the company’s policy (Liptak 2015). Therefore, she felt that the company had discriminated against her based on her religious beliefs as a Muslim since it is customary for Muslim women to wear headgear while in public. Abercrombie & Fitch, in their defense, argued that the look requirements placed upon all employees was consistent and was not discriminatory because it is applied in all circumstances without exception (Liptak 2015). The company argued that the look requirements in the workplace were similar to those of football teams or other professional groups. The company argued that the policy did not discriminate against anyone. Further, they stated that Elauf had full knowledge regarding the company’s look policy and did not offer any explanation to warrant accommodation. The District Court ruled in favor of EEOC, but the company appealed and won at the Tenth Circuit. In the end, Ms. Elauf appealed in the Supreme Court, which granted her a victory, 8-1 (Liptak 2015).
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Employers are granted the privilege to choose their employees through a professionally – devised system that ascertains the qualifications of candidates. Employers, therefore, devise the test methods for each employee category and position based on several factors, including but not limited to: education level, mobility status, experience and ability to work (EEOC 2019). In this regard, the employer is given free will to pick candidates for employment in whichever manner they deem fit. However, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in the SEC. 2000e-2 [Section 703] (1) and (2), makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate any individual for the purposes of hiring or discharge based on the individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin (EEOC 2019). The merits of the individual also extend to making it unlawful for employers to limit, segregate or classify employees based on the traits; and to discriminate concerning compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment (EEOC 2019).
In the lawsuit filed by Ms. Elauf, it is apparent that Abercrombie & Fitch’s ‘Look Policy’ was a violation of the law as ruled by the Supreme Court. Although employers have the liberty to set qualifying standards for their target employees, regulatory controls set up by the State should bear the blame for failing to expressly prohibit the company’s implementation and use of the policy. Business activities in any country have the responsibility to follow the rules and regulations that are set up to govern business conduct. In the United States, the ethical theory that drives business conduct is the rights theory. The theory asserts that all rights established and granted to individuals or groups in a society must be protected and upheld and given highest priority (Baumane-Vitolina 2016). Business activities mandated to follow hiring regulations may be forced to comply with specific terms geared towards protecting individual rights. Therefore, it makes it more expensive to do business (Brenkert, 2016). However, this also makes corporate social responsibility and community relations strengthen.
References
Baumane-Vitolina, I., Cals, I. & Sumilo, E. (2016). Is ethics rational? Teleological, deontological and virtue ethics theories reconciled in the context of traditional economic decision making. Procedia Economics and Finance, 39 (16): 108-114.
Brenkert, G. G. (2016). Business ethics and human rights: An overview. Business and Human Rights Journal, 1 (2): 277-306.
EEOC. (2019). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Web.
Liptak, A. (2015). Muslim woman denied job over head scarf wins in Supreme Court. The New York Times. Web.
