London – Although Zara may be one of the world’s leading fashion retailer,
it does not save the Spanish chain from being heavily scrutinized on all
facets. Over the past few years the retailer has been criticized for
sourcing from factories which function under ,
flaunting designs that are racially insensitive and turning a blind eye to
employee Now a new report published by The Center
for Popular Democracy claims retail workers at Zara’s stores in New York
City face ‘unequal conditions’ within the company based on their skin color
and routinely witness discriminatory practices carried out against
customers of color.
In the report, entitled ‘Stitched with Prejudice: Zara USA’s Corporate
Culture of Favoritism’ and written by Chaya Crowder, 251 employees from six
Zara stores in New York City were surveyed in addition to a focus group of
five employees and asked questions regarding their retail work experience
to determine if they faced any type of racial discrimination in the
workplace. From the employees questioned, 130 identified as Hispanic, 59
as black, 34 as white, 12 as Asian and 11 as mixed race.
‘Black employees are more than twice as unhappy with their hours as white
employees at Zara’
Inditex, Zara’s parent company has strict guidelines regarding diversity
and states they do “not tolerate discrimination of any kind.” However the
survey found that darker skinned employees were more than twice as
dissatisfied with their working hours as lighter skinned employees, with
one employee revealing that his shifts varied so much they resulted in as
much as a 60 percent difference in hours and income week to week. Other
darker skinned employees stated that after Zara raised their hourly wage to
12 dollars an hour and they pay increased, their working hours decreased.
The report found that employees of color agreed most strongly that
“managers show favoritism,” which dictates who is promoted, how hours are
distributed and how workers are treated, with many saying this was based on
race. Employees who had been at Zara longer more rapidly identified cases
of favoritism, with 64 percent of Zara employees of color agreeing that
managers show favoritism, compared to 45 percent of Latino employees and 27
percent of white employees. This racial favoritism reportedly impacts who
is promoted and employee evaluations, with the more visible front of store
positions, which have a higher status, going to lighter skinned employees.
Darker-skinned workers were disproportionately placed in the back of the
store, according to the report, which saw 68 percent of back-store worker
to have darker skin. These employees also felt they received harsher
scrutiny from management than their paler co-workers.
‘Employees of color do not believe that they have an equal opportunity to
be promoted’
Furthermore, the report found that a preponderance of employees believe
that a disproportionate number of customers with darker skin tones were
marked as potential thieves. Customers with darker skins tones are 7 times
more likely to be targeted as potential thieves than white customers,
according to employees. They mentioned a practice of labeling these
customers as “special orders,” a security code name for suspected
shoplifters. Once a customers was identified as a “special order” their
location is then passed onto an employees who would then track them around
the store. Although 43 percent of the employees questioned did not answer
questions in regard to “special orders” or did not know the term, from the
57 percent that did, 46 percent claim that these customers were always or
often someone of color.
Employees added that “special orders” were identified by “dressing a
certain way” and are “mostly African-American.” These customers were also
defined as “anyone who looks black, not put together or urban.” Connie
Razza, CPD’s director of strategic research and co-editor of the report,
revealed to the Guardian that she was surprised by the levels of
discrimination. “I was expecting some level of discrimination, but the
degree of disparity with workers getting raises and hours that vary so
dramatically was surprising.”
Zara USA ‘vehemently refutes’ the claims made in the Center for Popular
Democracy report
Since the report’s publication earlier this week Zara has stepped forward
and refuted all claims made in the report and published an
antidiscrimination policy especially for Zara USA, which includes their
stance on equal employment opportunity. “The report failed to follow
acceptable methodologies for the conduct of a credible objective survey on
workplace practices, and instead appears to have taken an approach to
achieve a pre-determined result which was to discredit Zara,” states
Inditex’s corporate affairs division on the matter. The Spanish company
believes that the report from CPD was in fact “prepared with ulterior
motives” and not because they were concerned of “actual discrimination or
mistreatment. It makes assertions that cannot be supported and do not
reflect Zara’s diverse workforce.”
Zara USA argues that the claims made throughout the report are “completely
inconsistent” with the company’s true culture and the actual workplace
experiences of its plus 1,100 employees in New York City. “We are an equal
opportunity employer, and if there are individuals who are not satisfied
with any aspect of their employment, we have multiple avenues for them to
raise issues that we would immediately investigate and address.” The
company adds that during the most recent round of internal promotions at
Zara USA, approximately half of the employees promoted were African
American or Hispanic and hours are allocated to workers without any regard
to their race or ethnicity. “These facts clearly demonstrate that diversity
and equal opportunity are two of the company’s core values,” noted a
company spokesperson.
Corporate Culture Favoritism – the new norm at Zara USA?
Razza maintains, in spite of Zara rebuttal of the report’s finding, that
racial discrimination pervades the entire company. “It’s a corporate
culture that’s very problematic,” she noted. The report’s publication comes
not long after former general counsel for Zara USA, Ian Miller, filed a 40
million dollar discrimination lawsuit against the company. He claims that
he was treated different and discriminated against at work because he is
Jewish, American and gay. “The lawsuit brings to light the depth that
discrimination pervades Zara USA. Given the revelations of the lawsuit, we
felt it was very important to reflect that it happens across all levels,”
added Razza.
“This nuanced finding of colorism, embedded in a larger system of racism in
contemporary retail practices of a popular clothing store, sheds light on
how far we must go to once and for all end the multi-faceted nature of
racial inequality in employment today,” commented Dorian T. Warren,
co-director, Columbia University Program on Labor Law and Policy Fellow,
Roosevelt Institute. In spite of the reports dark findings, he remains
positive that it will help bring around change for the better. “While the
report painstakingly documents the policies and practices of discrimination
against people of color and particularly against darker-skinned Black
employees and customers, it also lays out a path for change.”
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