Condé Nast fires four staffers who confronted HR chief over Teen Vogue

Condé Nast fires four staffers who confronted HR chief over Teen Vogue

Condé Nast fired four unionized workers Wednesday after they confronted the company’s head of human sources over layoffs tied to the folding of Teen Vogue into Vogue.com — a transfer that union leaders say alerts the publisher’s escalating crackdown on inside dissent.

The firings got here two days after Condé announced Teen Vogue can be folded into Vogue.com under new editorial chief Chloe Malle.

The transfer successfully ended the youth title’s 22-year run as an impartial model — prompting the exit of editor-in-chief Versha Sharma and at the very least six other staffers.

Condé said the transition would “keep Teen Vogue’s unique editorial identity and mission.”

Condé Nast fired four unionized workers Wednesday after they confronted the company’s head of human sources. UCG/Universal Images Group through Getty Images

But insiders and the NewsGuild of New York, which represents Condé Nast workers, blasted the transfer as a deliberate effort to “blunt the award-winning magazine’s insightful journalism at a time when it is needed the most.”

By Wednesday, tensions reportedly boiled over inside Condé’s headquarters. The mass media company fired four unionized workers that day after they confronted the company’s head of human sources.

More than a dozen workers gathered outdoors the workplace of Stan Duncan, the company’s HR head, demanding to debate the Teen Vogue layoffs and broader cuts across the company, according to Semafor.

He reportedly told staffers they may not congregate outdoors his workplace and requested them to return to work.

More than a dozen workers gathered outdoors the workplace of Stan Duncan, the company’s head of human sources, demanding to debate the Teen Vogue layoffs. Variety through Getty Images

When he tried to depart, one worker requested if he was “running away from the unionized employees,” an individual current was quoted as saying.

During the change, another staffer pressed Duncan on whether or not Condé Nast was bowing to political strain.

One employee demanded to know what Duncan and administration had been doing to face as much as the Trump administration, according to Semafor. The union suspects that the company folded Teen Vogue into Vogue.com to be able to reduce down on political reporting.

“We’d like you to move forward,” Duncan reportedly replied.

“We’d like you to answer our questions,” another staffer shot again.

The four workers fired after the incident included a senior fact checker for The New Yorker, a politics reporter for WIRED, a digital staffer for Bon Appétit and a video staffer, according to Semafor.

Condé Nast told the quarrelsome quartet they had been being terminated for violating company coverage.

The NewsGuild famous they had been union leaders — Bon Appétit’s Alma Avalle, NewsGuild of New York’s first vice chairman; Wired’s Jake Lahut; The New Yorker’s Jasper Lo, outgoing first vice chair of the journal’s union; and videographer Ben Dewey, former vice chair of the NewsGuild’s “CNE unit.”

Employees had been upset about layoffs tied to the folding of Teen Vogue into Vogue.com. Getty Images for Teen Vogue

In a press release to The Post, a Condé Nast spokesperson said: “Extreme misconduct is unacceptable in any professional setting. This includes aggressive, disruptive, and threatening behavior of any kind.”

“We have a responsibility to provide a workplace where every employee feels respected and able to do their job without harassment or intimidation,” the spokesperson added.

“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.”

Condé Nast also filed a cost with the National Labor Relations Board against the NewsGuild of New York, accusing the union of “repeated and egregious disregard of our collective bargaining agreement.”

Union representatives denounced the firings as retaliation.

In a press release Thursday, the NewsGuild of New York and Condé United called the firings “egregious” and “a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract.”

Condé’s places of work are situated at One World Trade Center in decrease Manhattan. UCG/Universal Images Group through Getty Images

The union said the dismissals had been “an unprecedented violation of federally protected rights as union members to participate in a collective action” and accused Condé Nast of “attempting to intimidate and silence our members’ advocacy for the courageous cultural and political journalism of Teen Vogue.”

Condé’s restructuring of Teen Vogue — which ceased print publication in 2017 — has drawn criticism across the media trade.

Once a shiny extension of Vogue under Amy Astley, Teen Vogue reinvented itself under Elaine Welteroth in 2016 as a progressive outlet overlaying race, gender, labor and local weather politics alongside style and tradition.

Its digital reporting gained widespread reward for participating Gen Z readers and tackling subjects like immigration, reproductive rights and social justice — a pointy distinction to the luxurious and lifestyle focus of Vogue.com.

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