{"id":12391,"date":"2022-02-16T08:01:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T13:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12391"},"modified":"2022-02-16T08:01:15","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T13:01:15","slug":"pleasing-a-mob-or-embracing-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12391","title":{"rendered":"pleasing a mob or embracing diversity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every now and then I read an account that just makes me think. No commentary necessary. Jennifer Sey published one this week in Common Sense.<\/em> Sey is the global brand president of Levi\u2019s, who had worked there for over two decades, but resigned this week because the company did not want her speaking out about COVID-related school closures. I will include Sey\u2019s abbreviated editorial here. Feel free to join me in thinking\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 My tenure at Levi\u2019s began as an assistant marketing manager in 1999, a few months after my thirtieth birthday. As the years passed, I saw the company through every trend. I was the marketing director for the U.S. by the time skinny jeans had become the rage. I was the chief marketing officer when high-waists came into vogue. I eventually became the global brand president in 2020\u2014the first woman to hold this post. (And somehow low-rise is back.) Over my two decades at Levi\u2019s, I got married. I had two kids. I got divorced. I had two more kids. I got married again. The company has been the most consistent thing in my life. And, until recently, I have always felt encouraged to bring my full self to work\u2014including my political advocacy\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, when I was a vice president of marketing, I published a memoir about my time as an elite gymnast that focused on the dark side of the sport, specifically the degradation of children. The gymnastics community threatened me with legal action and violence. Former competitors, teammates, and coaches dismissed my story as that of a bitter loser just trying to make a buck. They called me a grifter and a liar. But Levi\u2019s stood by me. More than that: they embraced me as a hero. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things changed when Covid hit. Early on in the pandemic, I publicly questioned whether schools had to be shut down. This didn\u2019t seem at all controversial to me. I felt\u2014and still do\u2014that the draconian policies would cause the most harm to those least at risk, and the burden would fall heaviest on disadvantaged kids in public schools, who need the safety and routine of school the most. I wrote op-eds, appeared on local news shows, attended meetings with the mayor\u2019s office, organized rallies and pleaded on social media to get the schools open. I was condemned for speaking out. This time, I was called a racist\u2014a strange accusation given that I have two black sons\u2014a eugenicist, and a QAnon conspiracy theorist. In the summer of 2020, I finally got the call. \u2018You know when you speak, you speak on behalf of the company,\u2019 our head of corporate communications told me, urging me to pipe down. I responded: \u2018My title is not in my Twitter bio. I\u2019m speaking as a public school mom of four kids.\u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the calls kept coming. From legal. From HR. From a board member. And finally, from my boss, the CEO of the company. I explained why I felt so strongly about the issue, citing data on the safety of schools and the harms caused by virtual learning. While they didn\u2019t try to muzzle me outright, I was told repeatedly to \u2018think about what I was saying.\u2019 Meantime, colleagues posted nonstop about the need to oust Trump in the November election. I also shared my support for Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primary and my great sadness about the racially instigated murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. No one at the company objected to any of that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in October 2020, when it was clear public schools were not going to open that fall, I proposed to the company leadership that we weigh in on the topic of school closures in our city, San Francisco. We often take a stand on political issues that impact our employees; we\u2019ve spoken out on gay rights, voting rights, gun safety, and more. The response this time was different. \u2018We don\u2019t weigh in on hyper-local issues like this,\u2019 I was told. \u2018There\u2019s also a lot of potential negatives if we speak up strongly, starting with the numerous execs who have kids in private schools in the city.\u2019 I refused to stop talking\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meantime, the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the company asked that I do an \u2018apology tour.\u2019 I was told that the main complaint against me was that \u2018I was not a friend of the Black community at Levi\u2019s.\u2019 I was told to say that \u2018I am an imperfect ally.\u2019 (I refused.) The fact that I had been asked, back in 2017, to be the executive sponsor of the Black Employee Resource Group by two black employees did not matter. The fact that I\u2019ve fought for kids for years didn\u2019t matter\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 2021, during a dinner with the CEO, I was told that I was on track to become the next CEO of Levi\u2019s\u2014the stock price had doubled under my leadership, and revenue had returned to pre-pandemic levels. The only thing standing in my way, he said, was me. All I had to do was stop talking about the school thing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the attacks would not stop. Anonymous trolls on Twitter, some with nearly half a million followers, said people should boycott Levi\u2019s until I\u2019d been fired. So did some of my old gymnastics fans. They called the company ethics hotline and sent emails\u2026 In the last month, the CEO told me that it was \u2018untenable\u2019 for me to stay. I was offered a $1 million severance package, but I knew I\u2019d have to sign a nondisclosure agreement about why I\u2019d been pushed out. The money would be very nice. But I just can\u2019t do it. Sorry, Levi\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never set out to be a contrarian. I don\u2019t like to fight. I love Levi\u2019s and its place in the American heritage as a purveyor of sturdy pants for hardworking, daring people who moved West and dreamed of gold buried in the dirt\u2026 But the corporation doesn\u2019t believe in that now. It\u2019s trapped trying to please the mob\u2014and silencing any dissent within the organization. In this it is like so many other American companies: held hostage by intolerant ideologues who do not believe in genuine inclusion or diversity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my more than two decades at the company, I took my role as manager most seriously. I helped mentor and guide promising young employees who went on to become executives. In the end, no one stood with me. Not one person publicly said they agreed with me, or even that they didn\u2019t agree with me, but supported my right to say what I believe anyway. I like to think that many of my now-former colleagues know that this is wrong. I like to think that they stayed silent because they feared losing their standing at work or incurring the wrath of the mob. I hope, in time, they\u2019ll acknowledge as much.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll always wear my old 501s. But today I\u2019m trading in my job at Levi\u2019s. In return, I get to keep my voice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026 still thinking\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every now and then I read an account that just makes me think. No commentary necessary. Jennifer Sey published one this week in Common Sense. Sey is the global brand president of Levi\u2019s, who had worked there for over two decades, but resigned this week because the company did not want her speaking out about … <\/p>\n

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