News

Supreme Court sides against Abercrombie in discrimination case

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Abercrombie & Fitch was in the wrong when it refused to hire a Muslim woman because she wore a head scarf.

June 2, 2015

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Abercrombie & Fitch was in the wrong when it refused to hire a Muslim woman because she wore a head scarf. The retailer had claimed that her scarf clashed with its dress code, which called for a "classic East Coast collegiate style," according to a Washington Post article.

"This is really easy," Justice Antonin Scalia said from the bench. He went on to say that the company must have at least suspected that Samantha Elauf wore the scarf for religious reasons. The court found that the decision not to hire her was motivated by a desire to avoid accommodating her religious practice, which was enough to allow her to sue under a federal employment discrimination law.

In its Supreme Court brief, Abercrombie argued that job applicants shouldn't be allowed "to remain silent and to assume that the employer recognizes the religious motivations behind their fashion decisions."

Carlene Benz, an Abercrombie spokeswoman, said the company had altered its dress code since 2008, allowing workers "to be more individualistic," that it has "a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion" and "has granted numerous religious accommodations when requested, including hijabs."

The court disagreed with an 8-to-1 vote; Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.

Although the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court for further consideration, Monday's ruling suggested that Elauf will win there as well, according to the article.

Scalia, writing for seven justices, said Elauf did not have to make a specific request for a religious accommodation to obtain relief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination in hiring.

"Title VII forbids adverse employment decisions made with a forbidden motive, whether this motive derives from actual knowledge, a well-founded suspicion or merely a hunch," Scalia said.

"An employer may not make an applicant's religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions," he later wrote in his opinion.