Tuesday, October 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR & LAS-ELC Announce Settlement in Abercrombie & Fitch Hijab Lawsuits
Clothing Retailer's Revised 'Look Policy' Will Accommodate Hijabs Following Religious Discrimination Ruling
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 23, 2013) - Earlier this morning, the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the settlement of a three and a half year lawsuit against teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch.

The settlement follows a recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers that the company had violated Federal and state civil rights laws by refusing to allow Hani Khan, of Foster City, to wear her religious headscarf at work, and rejecting its undue hardship and "free speech" defenses. Abercrombie has agreed to make numerous substantive policy and practice changes - including a modification to the "Look Policy" specifically acknowledging A&F's legal obligations to allow exceptions -- to settle the lawsuit which was otherwise scheduled to go to trial at the end of the month.

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