Boycott Abercrombie & Fitch

Yahoo! News - Abercrombie & Fitch to Pay to Settle Suit :
"We have, and always have had, no tolerance for discrimination. We decided to settle this suit because we felt that a long, drawn out dispute would have been harmful to the company and distracting to management,' chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries said in a statement Tuesday."

If the first part of that statement is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, why give in to blackmail? It just encourages more of the same. I understand that companies facing such suits are always considered guilty and that there are significant barriers to proving innocence (the "disparate impact test," for example). But these cases have almost nothing to do with any actual employees, but everything to do with enriching the treasuries of leftist political causes.

"The settlement, approved Tuesday morning by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, requires the company to adhere to a consent decree that calls for the implementation of new policies and programs to promote diversity and prevent discrimination in its workforce. Abercrombie & Fitch also must pay about $10 million to monitor compliance and cover attorneys' fees, although the agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing by the company."

"... Abercrombie & Fitch had said it would pay $50 million to resolve the litigation."

"The consent decree calls for Abercrombie & Fitch to hire a vice president of diversity and hire up to 25 diversity recruiters. The company also promised that its marketing materials would reflect diversity."

Thus capitalism grovels before its enemies, pumping millions of dollars to outfits like MALDEF. And no longer will they create marketing materials based on what will sell their products (which is the duty owed to the owners, as well as the employees, of the corporation), they have to keep looking over their shoulders to see if the unspoken political message of their casual clothes will please the censors. I personally own nothing by A&F, I think their marketing in the past has been politically suspect, that's what makes this case so interesting. If a trendy lefty outfit like A&F can take a hit like this, no one is safe.