Abercrombie & Fitch sued over ‘sex trafficking’ claims by former model | US News

Global fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch is facing a lawsuit from one of its former models over claims the firm’s ex-CEO ran a sex-trafficking operation. 

Mike Jeffries, who left the helm of Abercrombie & Fitch in 2014, along with his partner Matthew Smith, was the target of a BBC investigation earlier this month that accused him of recruiting young men for sexual exploitation and abuse. 

Mr Jeffries has also courted controversy in the past for the firm’s use of sexualised marketing during his 22-year tenure. 

David Braberry in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has alleged in a lawsuit that Mr Jeffries tasked scouts to identify young men looking for their big break in the modelling industry.

These men, according to Mr Bradberry, would often go on to become victims of Mr Jeffries’ alleged sex-trafficking operation. 

The lawsuit claims these men were brought to New York, as well as being sent abroad, to be abused by Mr Jeffires and other men. 

Court documents state: ‘Jeffries was so important to the profitability of the brand that he was given complete autonomy to perform his role as CEO however he saw fit, including through the use of blatant international sex-trafficking and abuse of the prospective Abercrombie models.’

Mr Bradberry and his team stipulate that over a hundred young models may have fallen prey to Mr Jeffries’ alleged operation. 

Since the allegations against the brand first came to light earlier this month, Abercrombie & Fitch claims to have hired an external law firm to conduct an internal investigation. 

The firm has said its current board and other senior executives presently working at the company were unaware of any impropriety on Mr Jeffries’ part. 

As it said in a recent statement: ‘For close to a decade, a new executive leadership team and refreshed board of directors have successfully transformed our brands and culture into the values-driven organisation we are today. 

‘We have zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind.’

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