Terms Of The Agreement Were Not Disclosed

An age discrimination lawsuit brought by a corporate pilot against Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has been settled after the company's CEO was ordered to give a second deposition in the case.

Philadelphia-based U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond ordered the second deposition, which could have lasted as long as seven hours, after the “disturbingly belated production of highly damaging evidence,” was discovered in the case. Bloomberg Business Week reports that the evidence was a set of handwritten notes from the company's director of procurement.

CEO Michael Jefferies had been deposed when the case was originally filed in April, 2010. Corporate pilot Michael Stephen Bustin, now 55-years-old, claimed he was fired and replaces with a younger pilot by the retailer, which caters primarily to teenagers.

The notes were written by the company's former director of procurement, Scott Mayer, which “may well offer compelling proof that Matthew Smith, the life partner of Abercrombie CEO Michael Jeffries, allegedly acting at Jeffries’s direction, illegally ordered Plaintiff’s termination because of Plaintiff’s age,” according to the order from judge Diamond.

Abercrombie & Fitch general attorney told Bloomberg Business Week only that the case had been resolved, and that there would be no further comment.

FMI: www.paed.uscourts.gov