Sunday, March 14, 2010

J.Crew Accused of Discrimination

"Thanks!" to Morgan who let us know that she saw a protest today in front of a J.Crew store in NYC and shared these photos with us.

After a quick Google search, there are a few articles (click here & here) that have more information about the protest which stems from accusations of discrimination against transgender job applicants.

It will be interesting to hear how J.Crew's public relations team will address this situation.

9 comments:

  1. I am really, really disappointed in JC if this is true. Thanks for alerting us about this, and for the quick links. I'll have to do some more reading, but I wouldn't be very surprised if there's merit to the complaints.

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  2. Overcharge, yes. Discrimination, no. Just what I've personally observed...

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  3. Busted. Not surprised that a company like this has finally gotten nailed.

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  4. Seems like Jcrew is trying to say ' We are only for straight people' ?

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  5. Thanks to JCrew if this is true!

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  6. Shame on J. Crew. I am very disappointed to hear of this discrimination, and I hope that they will immediately revise their practices to be free of bigotry.

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  7. I can't say I'm entirely surprised, although it may be hard to prosecute or prove J.Crew was discriminatory against a transperson. The problem lies - as with many retailers who cater to a niche - in that there is a brand image J.Crew attempts to represent when staffing a store.

    J.Crew has a specific image, and that image may automatically discriminate against a lot of people when it comes to hiring.

    I find it ironic that a line known for telling women to borrow from the men's section, and create clothing that could be androgynous discriminates. I hope J.Crew does the right thing, transgendered folks face so much already.

    I don't want to give up something I love so much because my conscience is in conflict.

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  8. Allison, you made such a valid, and hilarious point about the hypocrisy of the "borrowed from the boys" viewpoint. Looks like J. Crew is doing the equivalent of straight girls kissing each other to get attention from boys. Hey, we'll flirt with this idea but it's not what we're really about...

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  9. Hmm. It doesn't seem like there is very much proof in the story. It could be true, but I didn't read enough to be convinced. Why is the group only protesting at J.Crew when the article mentions "dozens of retailers." I shopped at that Fifth Ave store for 5 years and the staff seemed diverse, gay and straight, as well as ethnically, so I don't think they would discriminate.

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