Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Justice Department Thursday said that it reached an agreement with Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. that resolves a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC).

• The company was found to have discriminated against a non-U.S. citizen in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by requiring a prospective employee to provide documentation of her eligibility to work.

• Abercrombie has agreed to pay the woman some $3,700 in back wages, establish a $154,000 fund for similar cases, and pay a civil penalty.

Dive Insight:

The issue here for Abercrombie is that the company asked this woman for documentation regarding her immigration and employability status but not other employees or prospective employees. That, the Justice Department says, is discriminatory practice. Retailers, especially those with thousands of employees from different nationalities, should take note. 

The Columbus, OH-based retailer has learned a few lessons of late regarding discriminatory practices, including losing a case before the Supreme Court, which said that the retailer’s dress code-related refusal to hire a young woman wearing a head scarf ran afoul of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.