Turns out Abercrombie & Fitch may have bigger fish to fry than revamping their dated lineup of faux-distressed frat-wear. Last week a class-action lawsuit for approximately 62,000 Abercrombie & Fitch employees was certified by a judge in California. The suit claims employees were forced to wear the company's clothes on the job. According to Reed Marcy, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, Abercrombie forced workers to buy new clothes each time a new sales guide came out, and then failed to reimburse them despite making them wear what is essentially a uniform—a bootcut, overly distressed, logo-heavy uniform paired with mandatory Chuck Taylors, Vans, or company flip-flops—despite the fact that doing so is in violation of the state's labor codes. 

Worse than forcing them to buy the clothes, however, the suit also claims that they were sent home, or lost their shifts entirely, when they didn't meet the "uniform" requirements, or requirements about hair color, fingernail length, makeup style, and other controversial aspects of the company's "look policy." All of which is described by Marcy as discriminatory and illegal. Abercrombie has been no stranger to controversy over the years, a fact that had a lot to do with it's former CEO Michael Jeffries, who stepped down late last year. Most recently the company lost 8-1 in a Supreme Court decision, which said they violated workplace discrimination law when they refused to hire a Muslim job applicant because she wore a hijab. With flagging sales already a major issue, it will be interesting to see what effect this new class-action suit has on the future of the company.

[H/T Huffington Post