DIE WELT (Germany)
Over the past three years, U.S. lifestyle brand Hollister has opened 17 retail outlets in Germany opened during the last three years.
According to information acquired by Die Welt, a number of former employees of the stores have sued the German subsidiary of the U.S. mother company Abercrombie & Fitch for practices ranging from body searches and heavy camera monitoring on the job, but also for hindering the formation of an employee association.
One former staffer told Die Welt that when he left work in the evening his female boss patted him down and made him open his back pack for inspection. "When you’re an object of suspicion for your employer, it creates a bad atmosphere," he said.
He said he quit after four months because the working climate was so unpleasant.
A Hollister store in Germany (Peter Lustig)
Another former employee said in court that "they constantly let you know that there were plenty of other people to fill your job, and that you were totally expendable."
Die Welt wrote to the CEO of the German Hollister company asking if body searches and heavy camera monitoring of employees were store policy. The letter was sent to the main U.S. office for answering. It responded that it would not reply to the questions.
