A disabled British law student from London, who has a prosthetic arm, was forced to work in the stock room of abercrombie and fitch's flagship store in the English capital for not fitting in with its strict "look policy".
Riam Dean, 22, claimed she was forced off the sales floor of the clothing chain's London shop in Savile Row because of a "blatant policy of eugenics". Miss Dean was born with her left forearm missing and claimed disability discrimination after being repremanded for wearing a cardigan during her shift last summer. The student said that the incident has made her "question her worth as a human being" and claimed that she was effectively "bullied" out of her job when she resigned in July last year.
A central London employment tribunal ruled today said that she had been wrongfully dismissed and unlawfully harassed.
abercrombie and fitch have been order to pay Miss Dean over $14,000 for "hurt feelings", loss of earnings and damages, but the panel did not uphold her claim for disability discrimination.
Initially, she was given permission to wear a plain white cardigan to cover the join between her skin and her prosthetic arm, but was later moved to the stockroom. Miss Dean emotionally said, "My entire perception of my own self worth was shattered. I pride myself on being quite a confident girl but I had never experienced prejudice like that before and it made me feel utterly worthless."
Jason Nisse, a PR executive from the firm Fishburn Hedges, added: "abercrombie and fitchshould not confuse creating an aspirational image with being elitist.
Staff working in the most visible roles at the store are known as "models" and some male workers parade around top-less wearing low-slung jeans. "Visual associates" are employed to check that workers are dressed in line with a centrally defined "key look" which changes each season.
In the US, abercrombie and fitch recently settled a $40 million lawsuit brought by nine former employees, all from ethnic minority group claiming they were forced to work in stockrooms or night shifts as they did not fit the Abercrombie "look".
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