• Abercrombie recruits, hires, and maintains a disproportionately white workforce of salespeople (called Brand Representatives).
• Abercrombie systematically discourages applications from minority applicants and refuses to hire qualified minority applicants as Brand Representatives to work on the floors.
• Abercrombie implements its employment policies and practices in part through a detailed and rigorous “Appearance Policy,” which requires that all Brand Representatives must exhibit the “A&F Look”,  a virtually all-white image.
• Abercrombie uses visual media to reinforce to managers responsible for recruitment, assignment, compensation and termination of Brand Representatives the importance of adhering to the "A&F Look" in employment decisions via:
• prominent displays in each store of large photographs of models – almost all of whom are white;
  
• the A&F Quarterly, a magazine/catalog featuring almost exclusively white models;
• careful scrutiny and monitoring of its stores by regional and district managers and corporate representatives, who have directed that minority Brand Representatives be fired, moved to the stock room or overnight shift, or have their hours “zeroed out,” the equivalent of termination;
• the scrutiny and enforced compliance with the “A&F Look” by requiring all stores to submit a picture of their Brand Representatives. Corporate officials then select roughly 15 stores’ pictures as exemplary models and distribute these photos to all stores nationwide. The Brand Representatives in these pictures are almost invariably white.

Apple Computer has been slapped with a $40 million racial discrimination lawsuit charging that the company unfairly sacked an African-American employee. Described by the plaintiff's attorney as "one the largest racial discrimination cases in U.S. history," the suit alleges the former employee was denied promotions and standard perks, isolated from co-workers and then fired for a trivial offense.

A Federal lawsuit has been filed against the Atlanta-based telephone giant BellSouth Corporation alleging that the company systematically discriminates against African American salaried and hourly workers. According to the suit, BellSouth routinely impedes the advancement of African American employees and pays them less than similar white employees. The company employs about 100,000 workers and this suit was filed on behalf of about 15,000 - 20,000 African American employees. The lawsuit alleges that the discriminatory practices outlined in the complaint have been long standing. BellSouth has a history of using invalid tests that even its own executives don't trust and administering those tests and other prerequisites to promotion in a discriminatory manner. According to the lawsuit, nearly 25% of BellSouth employees are African American but only 13% of those employees hold professional jobs and only 5-6% of the African American employees have advanced to senior manager or officer positions.

Cracker Barrel agreed to implement a plan that addresses allegations in a Justice Department lawsuit and consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The lawsuit contends that Cracker Barrel violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act by "engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American customers" at dozens of restaurants, mainly in the Southeast.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., based in Lebanon, Tenn., has been the target of several lawsuits filed by black customers who say they received poor service compared with white patrons.

Department of Justice investigators found that blacks often had exceptionally long waits for tables compared with whites, were seated in racially segregated areas in restaurants Blacks who complained about poor service also were treated less favorably than whites.

The investigation found evidence of the problems at more than 50 restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Acosta said 80 percent of the 150 employees or former employees interviewed in the probe said they had witnessed or experienced discriminatory treatment at Cracker Barrel restaurants, with managers often directing or condoning the behavior.

Class of African-American Workers Subjected to Racial Slurs, Jokes, Graffiti

 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $200,000 settlement of a racial harassment lawsuit against Georgia-Pacific Corporation, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of paper and building products, on behalf of four African-American employees. The workers were subjected to a racially hostile work environment, which included severe and repeated acts of racial harassment, racial slurs, jokes, comments, and grafitti, by a white supervisor at the company's facility in Butner, N.C. Additionally, one employee was fired after complaining about the harassment.

EEOC Settles Suit Against SALOMON SMITH BARNEY for Race and National Origin Bias

The settlement was approved late Friday, June 13, as a Consent Decree by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition to the $635,000 in monetary payments to the victims, Salomon agreed to take major steps to enhance the promotional opportunities of four charging parties who are still employed as computer operators and to develop specific criteria for the promotion of computer operators in the Data Center. Additionally, the Consent Decree requires that Salomon:

• Continue to maintain a policy prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and a procedure for employees to report complaints of discrimination;
• Post a notice of its policies, practices, and intent not to discriminate against employees;
• Provide all managers and supervisors in the Data Center with equal employment opportunity training; and
• Provide written reports to the EEOC about its training efforts in the Data Center.