Abercrombie & Fitch

Retailing

Risk Level:

Rating - Caution
Medium Risk

Summary:

Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) has not publicly terminated business relationships due to political or religious beliefs, though it vets suppliers for their LGBTQ policies. A&F supports the Equality Act and regularly donates to ideological groups hostile to freedom of expression, such as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). To its credit, the company requires vendors not to discriminate based on political opinion. For these reasons, A&F receives a "Medium Risk" rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

A&F received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies (1). There are no publicly known cases of A&F terminating business relationships due to religious or political beliefs.

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

A&F does not have a rule prohibiting donations to faith-based organizations, and supports faith-based charities such as Habitat for Humanity (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

While A&F’s Code of Conduct does not explicitly protect its employees from viewpoint discrimination, the company’s Vendor Code of Conduct requires suppliers not to discriminate on political opinion or affiliation. Such protections are “aligned with A&F’s principles and values” (1)(2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

A&F advocates for the Equality Act (1). It also features items in accordance with the Trevor Project, such as “Pride Hoodie,” “Pride Fierce Cologne,” and “Pride Pins” (2). A&F has launched the Abercrombie Equity Project to further leftist racial narratives and is “also actively recruiting and hiring in an effort to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace that improves upon industry statistics” (3).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

A&F is a regular supporter of the Trevor Project: “In support of Pride 2022 and our ongoing partnership, Abercrombie is donating $400,000 to The Trevor Project, regardless of sales. To date, we’ve raised over $2.8 million for The Trevor Project” (1). A&F also donates to GLSEN (2).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

A&F has not used its PAC for ideological purposes (1).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
February 1, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

Generate Reports
Clear
Toast