Condé Nast, a global media company, immediately fired four reporters on Wednesday who confronted the head of Human Resources (HR) for violating company policy.
Among those fired were former WIRED reporter Jake Lahut, Alma Avalle from Bon Appétit, Jasper Lo from The New Yorker and Ben Dewey from Condé Nast Entertainment, The NewsGuild of New York, a union that orgnanizes Condé Nast employees, confirmed in a statement. The confrontation resulted from Condé Nast’s announcement that Teen Vogue was being merged with its sister magazine, Vogue, resulting in multiple layoffs of its editor-in-chief and other staffers.
In retaliation, over a dozen staffers at Condé Nast gathered outside of HR head Stan Duncan’s office and demanded to speak with him about the layoffs, sources told Semafor. Duncan told the staffers they could not form a crowd outside his office and asked them to return to work.
One of the now-fired employees asked Duncan how he planned to stand up to President Donald Trump.
“We’d like you to move forward,” Duncan said.
“We’d like you to answer our questions,” the fired employee demanded.
Jake Lahut, a former WIRED reporter, confirmed on X that he was fired.
In its statement, The NewsGuild of New York accused Condé Nast of attempting to “intimidate and silence” its staffers for standing up for the laid-off workers at Teen Vogue.
“These egregious terminations are a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract and an unprecedented violation of their federally protected right as union members to participate in a collective action,” The NewsGuild said. “Through these illegal terminations, Condé Nast management is attempting to intimidate and silence our members’ advocacy for the courageous cultural and political journalist at Teen Vogue, as well as diverting attention away from the obvious lack of corporate leadership at the company.”
Condé Nast filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the NewsGuild of New York, accusing them of having complete “disregard of [their] collective bargaining agreement,” according to Semafor. The company stated any kind of “aggressive, disruptive, and threatening behavior of any kind” is “unacceptable” in the workplace.
“Extreme misconduct is unacceptable in any professional setting. This includes aggressive, disruptive, and threatening behavior of any kind,” a spokesperson said. “We have a responsibility to provide a workplace where every employee feels respected and able to do their job without harassment or intimidation. We also cannot ignore behavior that crosses the line into targeted harassment and disruption of business operations. We remain committed to working constructively with the union and all of our employees.”
The union had previously condemned the layoffs at Teen Vogue following Condé Nast’s merger announcement.
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