Accommodations. They don’t have to be big, but they can make a big difference.
Case in point: a 14 year old autistic girl needed help in a dressing room. The store claimed a policy that only one person can be in a dressing room at a time. Surely this policy could be waived in this case?
Such is the case that was recently decided in Minnesota. A local outlet for the Retailer Abercrombie and Fitch refused to allow an autistic girl to bring her sister with her into a fitting room.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, the store wasn’t even following its own policy:
The company’s associate handbook states that only one person is allowed in a fitting room at a time, but adds, “Some exceptions to this rule include parents with their kids and a disabled person’s assistant.” The company designed the policy to reduce theft.
Abercrombie and Fitch has been fined $115,264. Of this, $25,000 will go to the girl for mental anguish. About $41,000 will go to her lawyers.
An upscale lesson for upscale Abercrombie and Fitch. Yay, teach them all, one by one.
Update–
they lost their appeal due to neglecting to send documents via certified mail:
http://www.startribune.com/local/60090427.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUncacyi8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
Too bad. I was looking forward to a scathing decision from the appeals judge.
Four years after Abercrombie & Fitch refused to let a teenager help her autistic sister try on clothes at its Mall of America store, state officials have fined the company $115,264 for discriminating against a disabled person.