A lawsuit has been filed against Abercrombie and Fitch co and J.M Hollister LLC by customers who claim the store is not handicap accessible according to USA Today. The customers who filed the legal document are being represented by lawyer Amy Robertson.
Abercrombie and Fitch co and Hollister LCC are no strangers to public backlash for their often discriminatory behaviors. Both companies serve and hire the attractive and trendy youth. This time around, it is the construction of their business, not their morals, that have landed them in the cross-hairs of angered customers.
USA Today reports Robertson "compared the case with the fight against racial segregation in the 1960's." Robertson claims client Julie Farrar, one who is wheelchair bound, had no entry to the store through a side door because the front door was not handicap accessible. The height of the counters are also mentioned in the lawsuit.
"As a person who has grown up with a disability who was excluded from many public and private buildings and experiences including school, dining, shopping, arguably because those buildings were built pre-ADA (American With Disabilities Act), I am simply referencing an attitude of exclusion that was prevalent during that time," Farrar said during Wednesday's ruling.
It seems that the lawsuit has been granted legal support. Judge Wiley Daniel concurs that Abercrombie and Fitch Co. and J.M Hollister LLC are not handicap accessible. Although compensation is expected for the suffering of the customers who endured the companies careless constructed business, none can be received.
Hollister's legal team have denied the allegations and has allegedly designated the side door for everyone, wheelchair bound or not. Whether or not the problem was done intentionally, the company will be held responsible. Both businesses are required to make their stores wheelchair friendly.
