Feminist Apparel CEO fires his entire staff

[ESF]

His staff found out that the founder and CEO of a company called "Feminist Apparel" had a history of sexual assualt. They then asked for his resignation, and he just fired them all instead. 

www.refinery29.com/2018/07/203982/feminist-apparel-ceo-alan-martofel-fires-staff

You need to read the article to find out how this asshole actually fired them. 

[shauni27]

Fuck him in his fucking smug face.

[seeyalater52]

I know someone who used to work there so I’ve been following this story since it broke and it’s so infuriating.

[ESF]

Jul 10, 2018 20:11:39 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I know someone who used to work there so I’ve been following this story since it broke and it’s so infuriating.

OMG! 

It's bad enough he fired them, but the way he did it? What a shithead!!!!!!

[seeyalater52]

Jul 10, 2018 20:20:58 GMT -5 ESF said:

Jul 10, 2018 20:11:39 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I know someone who used to work there so I’ve been following this story since it broke and it’s so infuriating.

OMG! 

It's bad enough he fired them, but the way he did it? What a shithead!!!!!!

And just...the whole ally theatre thing with the whole company and its purpose and feminism and then being such a shitpig. I’m so glad the story is getting more of a platform.

[oliviapope]

The fuck?

Their most recent post is filled with comments about this and it looks like they're losing followers quickly. But damn.

[bowies]

OMG his statement. It’s almost a cliché. Poor wittle guy. Why can’t shitty humans at least be original in their shittiness.

[isabel]

I mean, what exactly does he think is going to happen? His company is going to fold by next week. So not only is he an admitted sexual predator and liar, but he's also an idiot.

[bronxgirl]

he sounds like a typical entitled white male who has been getting away with shit all his life and doesn't understand about consequences because he never had any. Your company's going down, fuckwad.

[LoveTrains]

I have a cats against catcalls shirt I bought in May!! What an asshole.

[aurora]

Well, he seems consistent in being a lying liar who lies.

At least his non-allyship is now out there for everyone to be aware of. I wonder if his former employees could start their own company?

[katieinthecity]

OMG what a horrible horrible human being.

[phunluvin82]

OMFG. This company was his "humble attempt" to try to "solve" rape culture?!? Dude, you didn't see an opportunity to solve it. You saw an opportunity to cash in on it. And somewhere along the way decided you were better served by lying about it. We see you.

[4speedy]

This guy is an absolute asshole. But the employees are also a bit naive if they thought they would ask an owner of an L.L.C to step away from the company and that would be that. Is there more to this? Did the employees offer to buy him out? Because otherwise, I don’t see how the principal partner just walks away when legally, he IS the company.

[Michelle]

Jul 11, 2018 8:59:16 GMT -5 phunluvin82 said:

OMFG. This company was his "humble attempt" to try to "solve" rape culture?!? Dude, you didn't see an opportunity to solve it. You saw an opportunity to cash in on it. And somewhere along the way decided you were better served by lying about it. We see you.

I agree.

I'd give him the benefit of the doubt if his reply was, "I understand you feeling deceived and no longer happy to work with me. I am doing this as part of my attempt to make amends for past behaviors. That is why a significant number of the profits go to the charities we serve. However, I also understand if you do not wish to work with me any longer. I'm concerned about our intellectual property while you consider whether you want to stay here. I'm going to give you a week off, full pay, to think, ask me any questions you want, or prepare your resume for a job search if you deem it necessary. During that time I'm going to turn off your system access. We'll meet 1-1 a week from today so I can understand your position. I value all of you and the work you do, and how you have helped build this company. I'd like us to be able to move forward, even if it takes a few hard conversations 1-1 until we get there. But I'm not going anywhere. So the decision will truly be in your court. Should you decide you can no longer work here, we can discuss a transition timeline so we can wrap up your work where you've left off and support your exit somewhat."

Should anyone decide to stay, if i were him i'd have them sign a non-compete and some locked down legal paperwork to retain any intellectual property belonging to the company. The call to an attorney to get those documents in place for the meeting the following week would be my immediate next step after they exited. And if i saw an attitude from any person I couldn't trust to continue to work there, I'd put together a nice severance package so they'd leave amicably and I'd be prepared to present it the following week if they verbally said they wanted to stay but I wasn't convinced they genuine.

If you are genuine person but also an entrepreneur, you have to be able to make tough calls to let people go who aren't going to be trustworthy or who are a threat to the viability of the company's future. If it was his company, it is not reasonable to have him step down if it is still privately held. But you don't have to be a total dick when people come to you with genuine concerns. Hear them, respect them, and carefully and calculated to protect your business, but remember everything they have given you so far and reward their contributions to that point, even if you have to part ways.

[WOT?*]

Someone posted this company as an alternative.
www.mysister.org/

[seeyalater52]

Jul 11, 2018 11:32:51 GMT -5 4speedy said:

This guy is an absolute asshole. But the employees are also a bit naive if they thought they would ask an owner of an L.L.C to step away from the company and that would be that. Is there more to this? Did the employees offer to buy him out? Because otherwise, I don’t see how the principal partner just walks away when legally, he IS the company.

To be clear, this is a shaming tactic, not an actual ask. Obviously he is not going to walk away from his company, but you also can't realistically run a mission-driven company like this when your personal values are in such misalignment with that mission. These are largely low-wage workers of color, so they do not have the resources for a buy-out. 

[phunluvin82]

Jul 11, 2018 12:29:10 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jul 11, 2018 11:32:51 GMT -5 4speedy said:

This guy is an absolute asshole. But the employees are also a bit naive if they thought they would ask an owner of an L.L.C to step away from the company and that would be that. Is there more to this? Did the employees offer to buy him out? Because otherwise, I don’t see how the principal partner just walks away when legally, he IS the company.

To be clear, this is a shaming tactic, not an actual ask. Obviously he is not going to walk away from his company, but you also can't realistically run a mission-driven company like this when your personal values are in such misalignment with that mission. These are largely low-wage workers of color, so they do not have the resources for a buy-out. 

Yeah, it's not so much that he didn't step down...but lying about stepping down just so he could blindside everyone is such a dick move.  It would be a somewhat different story if he had handled things something like what michelle laid out.  Though I'm sure he'd have still lost some staff and customers regardless. 

[stephm0188]

What a dick. Gross.

[secretlyevil]

What’s it say that the way this played out doesn’t surprise me? From finding out he’s a sexual predator to him lying and then firing everyone to his completely obtuse “help me spread the word.”

The actuual fuck with this asshole. We need to start over as a race.

[aurora]

Jul 11, 2018 12:54:35 GMT -5 phunluvin82 said:

Jul 11, 2018 12:29:10 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

To be clear, this is a shaming tactic, not an actual ask. Obviously he is not going to walk away from his company, but you also can't realistically run a mission-driven company like this when your personal values are in such misalignment with that mission. These are largely low-wage workers of color, so they do not have the resources for a buy-out. 

Yeah, it's not so much that he didn't step down...but lying about stepping down just so he could blindside everyone is such a dick move.  It would be a somewhat different story if he had handled things something like what michelle laid out.  Though I'm sure he'd have still lost some staff and customers regardless. 

Lying about stepping down *and* lying about his history behind starting the company in the first place. It's possible for a guy who had once committed sexual assault to transform and become an ally, but all possible approaches to this require honesty up front and consistently.

[wawa]

Jul 11, 2018 11:32:51 GMT -5 4speedy said:

This guy is an absolute asshole. But the employees are also a bit naive if they thought they would ask an owner of an L.L.C to step away from the company and that would be that. Is there more to this? Did the employees offer to buy him out? Because otherwise, I don’t see how the principal partner just walks away when legally, he IS the company.

You can step down as CEO while still being the principal owner though. Somebody else can run it.

It's unclear to me how they thought this was going to work though. I'd not be exactly shocked if they were all fairly naive about business.

[Michael Scott]

Jul 11, 2018 14:46:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jul 11, 2018 12:54:35 GMT -5 phunluvin82 said:

Yeah, it's not so much that he didn't step down...but lying about stepping down just so he could blindside everyone is such a dick move.  It would be a somewhat different story if he had handled things something like what michelle laid out.  Though I'm sure he'd have still lost some staff and customers regardless. 

Lying about stepping down *and* lying about his history behind starting the company in the first place. It's possible for a guy who had once committed sexual assault to transform and become an ally, but all possible approaches to this require honesty up front and consistently.

Is it though?

I see a lot of similarities here to white allies. I guess kudos for optimism but I don't see this happening.  

[aurora]

Jul 11, 2018 16:04:48 GMT -5 Michael Scott said:

Jul 11, 2018 14:46:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

Lying about stepping down *and* lying about his history behind starting the company in the first place. It's possible for a guy who had once committed sexual assault to transform and become an ally, but all possible approaches to this require honesty up front and consistently.

Is it though?

I see a lot of similarities here to white allies. I guess kudos for optimism but I don't see this happening.  

Well, OK, maybe not in practice.

In an ideal, theoretical world I do believe repentance is possible. This is probably my Catholic upbringing showing.