You might remember a while back that several Black, Latino, and Asian plaintiffs sued Abercrombie & Fitch for racial discrimination in their recruitment, hiring, and retention policies. These plaintiffs pointed to several incidents in which they were specifically told that A&F was purposely seeking to cultivate an all-White image and that workers of color were routinely marginalized and/or dismissed based solely on their race.

Apparently, A&F has reached a settlement in this case. As reported by the New York Times, A&F has agreed:

to alter its well-known collegiate, all-American - and largely White - image by adding more Blacks, Hispanics and Asians to its marketing materials. After a federal judge in San Francisco approved the class-action settlement yesterday, the two sides announced an agreement that calls for Abercrombie & Fitch to pay $40 million to several thousand minority and female plaintiffs.

Abercrombie also agreed to hire 25 diversity recruiters and a vice president for diversity and to pursue benchmarks so that its hiring and promotion of minorities and women reflect its applicant pool. . .

In an unusual step, the settlement calls for Abercrombie to increase diversity not just in hiring and promotions, but also in its advertisements and catalogs, which have long featured models who were overwhelmingly white and who seemed to have stepped off the football field or out of fraternities or sororities.

Has A&F genuinely changed their ways and will now renounce their racist corporate culture? We’ll see . . .