Fashion retailer Abercrombie&Fitch has paid $US71,000 ($A75,721) to settle a case in which the company was found to have discriminated against two Muslim women wearing headscarves.
The image-conscious fashion chain,whose strict dress code requires employees to wear clothes similar to those sold at its stores,has agreed to permanently drop its ban on employees wearing hijab head coverings,the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday.
The settlement came after a judge ruled three weeks ago that the company had violated the religious rights of Hani Khan,who was fired after refusing to remove the hijab she wore as a stockroom clerk at a store near San Francisco.
The company paid Khan $US48,000 ($A51,191),the report said.
It paid a further $US23,000 to another woman who claimed she had been denied a job by the company after coming to the interview wearing a headscarf.
"I am hopeful that my struggle and this victory will ensure that what happened to me at Abercrombie never happens to any other employees there,"Khan said.