Under California law, if an employer requires its employees to wear certain clothing, the employer must pay the full cost. The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement concluded that Abercrombie violated this law by requiring its employees to buy and wear its clothing. Several former employees of the company report that they felt pressured to buy and wear Abercrombie clothes. The company issued a statement saying that they believed their polices had always been in keeping with the law, but they have agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle the investigation.
See "Abercrombie & Fitch Settles Investigation", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, June 24, 2003