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On Abercrombie Boss's Jet: Boxers, Phil Collins Music

By Andrew Lu on October 22, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Next time you want to complain about your job, just be thankful you're allowed to wear the underwear of your own choosing. In a lawsuit brought against Abercrombie & Fitch, a fired airplane pilot says male stewards were required to wear boxer briefs and that Phil Collins music had to be played on every flight.

The lawsuit is an age discrimination lawsuit, but the pilot's age (he's 55) is the least interesting aspect of the case.

In fact, it's not clear what some of the allegations have to do with age discrimination at all, but the replaced pilot details plenty of idiosyncrasies of Abercrombie CEO Michael Jeffries, reports The Guardian.

Former pilot Stephen Bustin says that the male stewards who worked on Jeffries' private jet were hired male models provided by model agency Cosmopolitan Management. These stewards were allegedly required to wear boxer briefs, flip-flops, and a "spritz" of the retailer's own brand of aftershave, reports the Guardian.

Based on an extraordinarily detailed "aircraft standards" manual, male stewards were told what to wear from head to toe. As an example, the stewards had to wear black gloves for handling silverware and white gloves for laying the table. The crew was also required to play Phil Collins' Take me Home over the jet's intercom as the jet takes off on homeward bound flights, reports the Guardian.

How Jeffries' dogs were to seated were also spelled out as were how Jeffries and his partner, Matthew Smith, were to be addressed when responding to a request (stewards were to say "No Problem").

The pilot who brought the lawsuit only has to prove that he was replaced due to his age. The other facts introduced in his lawsuit are interesting, but are only tangential in helping prove that Jeffries' is obsessed with appearance.

The 68-year-old Jeffries has previously faced criticism for flying on his jet too much. With white (or black) gloved service and a team of models serving him, who could blame him?

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