Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law is launching an investigation of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s directors and officers over allegedly “breaching their fiduciary duties” to the company’s shareholders, the law firm announced last week.
The investigation follows a report from the BBC last week which stated that former CEO Mike Jefferies was being investigated by Abercrombie after being accused of “exploiting men at sex events around the world,” following BBC’s two-year investigation into the allegations.
Abercrombie didn’t respond to Fashion Dive’s request for comment ahead of press time.
Scott + Scott, a securities and consumer rights litigation firm with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Connecticut, California and Ohio, said in its press release that it’s seeking to learn if Abercrombie’s board and senior management “failed to manage [the company] in an acceptable manner, in breach of their fiduciary duties,” and whether its shareholders suffered damages as a result.
The investigation’s lead attorney, Joe Pettigrew, didn’t respond to Fashion Dive’s request for comment ahead of press time.
The BBC report states that Abercrombie hired an “outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation” into the claims, though it did not name the firm. The initial report of Jefferies’ conduct claimed that he and his partner used a middleman to “recruit young adult men” for their events, and some of these people alleged they were abused, per the report.
Jefferies, who retired in 2014, was credited with creating “the definitive wardrobe for 1990s teens,” yet came under fire closer to the time of his retirement after Abercrombie and the Hollister brand fell out of favor with the teenage demographic, per Blooomberg.
The company, now led by CEO Fran Horowitz, has recently experienced sales growth for its Abercrombie and Hollister brands. In August, it reported second quarter sales growth across its brands of 16%.
