11 Aug 2022

94

Abercrombie & Fitch's Employment Rights and Responsibilities

Format: APA

Academic level: College

Paper type: Coursework

Words: 575

Pages: 2

Downloads: 0

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).

It’s time to jumpstart your paper!

Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.

Get custom essay

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.

Illustration
Cite this page

Select style:

Reference

StudyBounty. (2023, September 16). Abercrombie & Fitch's Employment Rights and Responsibilities.
https://studybounty.com/abercrombie-and-fitchs-employment-rights-and-responsibilities-coursework

illustration

Related essays

We post free essay examples for college on a regular basis. Stay in the know!

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

The Relationship Between Compensation and Employee Satisfaction

In line with the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), work-related illness or injury derive from incidents or contact with the workplace hazards ( Singhvi, Dhage & Sharma, 2018). As far...

Words: 363

Pages: 1

Views: 96

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

The Tylenol Murders: What Happened in Chicago in 1982

The Chicago Tylenol Murders of 1982 were tragedies that occurred in a metropolitan region of Chicago and involved an alarming amount of recorded deaths. It was suspected to that the deaths were caused by drug...

Words: 557

Pages: 2

Views: 129

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

Ethical and Legal Analysis: What You Need to Know

Part 1 School Counselors (ASCA) | Teachers (NEA) | School Nurses (NASN) |---|--- The ASCA is responsible for protecting students’ information from the public. They always keep them confidential,...

Words: 531

Pages: 2

Views: 89

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

Naomi Klein: The Battle for Paradise

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to self-driven motives by an organization or a state government to ensure the well-being of its people is safeguarded. Corporate Social Responsibility creates a strong...

Words: 1369

Pages: 6

Views: 391

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

What is Utilitarianism?

It is a normative theory that defines the morality of an action on whether it is right or wrong, based on the result (Mulgan, 2014) . This theory has three principles that serve as the motto for utilitarianism. One...

Words: 833

Pages: 3

Views: 154

17 Sep 2023
Ethics

Argument Mapping: Traffic Fatality

The first part of the paper critically analyzes the claim that "The US should return to the 55-mph speed limit to save lives and conserve fuel." According to Lord and Washington (2018), one of the verified methods of...

Words: 1111

Pages: 4

Views: 91

illustration

Running out of time?

Entrust your assignment to proficient writers and receive TOP-quality paper before the deadline is over.

Illustration