End American Apparel's Policy of Hiring Based on Photos

American Apparel uses photos to make its hiring decisions. And not just any photos. "Full body head to toe" photos, which make or break an applicant's chances. These photos, in fact, are practically the sole application criteria; according to an AA source reporting to Gawker, applicants' resumes are "a distant second" in hiring decisions.

Last year, an AA manager told Gawker that company CEO Dov "I love me a good case of sexual harassment." Charney required managers of any AA stores not doing well in sales to send him group photos of the employees, in order to "tighten ... the AA aesthetic." Any employees not up to standards (i.e., not attractive enough for Charney's prepubescent sexpot tastes) were sacked. The manager, obviously bitter after her experience with the company (she cited the position as the "worst place to work, ever"), called the campaign "blatant discrimination based on looks."

Well, Charney obviously wanted to up that discrimination a notch, so he's made full head to toe images his hiring policy. Maybe he's looking for managers to hire "young attractive women to engage in sex" with him, as former AA recruiter Heather Pithie alleged he'd asked her to do during her time with the company? Or maybe he just wants to ensure that the as-of-yet-effective AA policy of superimposing female bodies over a leftist social-political ethic stays intact?

In any case, the recently revealed policy of hiring nearly entirely on looks gets more and more repulsive the deeper into it you get. Gawker published internal documents that demonstrate just how precise the looks requirements are: photos must show hair color, length, and style, give a clear shot of the face, and include shoes. Why? Because only certain types of shoes are allowed: Converse, Vans, Doc Martins, and flip flops are among the forbidden, whereas vintage heels, booties, and impeccably clean white keds (hot!) are encouraged.

The official documents don't say anything about weight or race (too dangerous!), but former employees revealed in emails sent to Gawker that employees are mocked for being "too heavy" and told to lose weight, and one employee was told to hire "classy black girls, with nice hair."

Amazing. Whatever you feel about American Apparel's straight-up unretouched sex + feel-good-politics line, hiring and firing employees based solely on looks is clear cut, messed up discrimination which aims not to empower women as part of some sort of embrace of sexual freedom but rather to hold them to one man's standards of sexiness. Tell American Apparel to stop demanding photos of employees and applicants, and to end its policy of hiring and firing employees based on looks.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons