Video shows Condé Nast employees confronting HR – Business News
Video footage shows Condé Nast employees confronting the company’s head of human assets — half of an incident that management characterised as “extreme misconduct” resulting in 4 unionized staffers’ firings, a framing which their union rejects.
The clips, filmed Wednesday outdoors HR chief Stan Duncan’s Thirty fourth-floor workplace at One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, show about 20 editorial staffers asking to debate layoffs tied to Teen Vogue’s merger with Vogue.com.
Duncan declines to have interaction, repeatedly directing employees to “go back to the workplace” earlier than retreating into an workplace, video obtained by the Wrap shows.
Condé Nast employees confront human assets boss Stan Duncan at company workplaces on Wednesday.
The most brutally awkward factor you may see at this time: Condé Nast staffers confront head of HR Stan Duncan over layoffs outdoors his Thirty fourth-floor workplace.Four of the employees featured on this unique video from the confrontation had been then fired for “extreme misconduct.” The complete… pic.twitter.com/Ze6Vmyz0iI— TheWrap (@TheWrap) November 6, 2025
Hours later, Condé Nast fired 4 union members who participated within the confrontation — Jasper Lo of the New Yorker, Jake Lahut of Wired, Alma Avalle of Bon Appétit and Ben Dewey of Condé Nast Entertainment — citing “gross misconduct and policy violations.”
Condé Nast additionally filed a federal labor grievance in opposition to the NewsGuild of New York.
One clip shows Duncan asking the employees to stop “congregating” outdoors his workplace earlier than telling them to go away.
“What counts as congregating?” Lahut asks. “What’s your definition of congregating?”
“We’d appreciate if you would go back to the workplace, to your workplace assignments,” Duncan replies.
“Is there a place that you’d be able to speak to us?” Avalle asks Duncan. “Do you think we’re not worth speaking to, Sam?”
Ben Dewey of Condé Nast Entertainment was one of 4 employees who had been terminated. Conde Nast Union
“Those are your words, not mine,” Duncan replies, saying he couldn’t converse to them on Wednesday attributable to “other things going on.”
“But they might be your beliefs!” Avalle says. “They’re not my beliefs,” Duncan replies.
The exec is then seen strolling down the hallway earlier than pointing to a different half of the ground, telling the group he was in a assembly and couldn’t meet with them.
“Well, we have some quick questions,” Avalle says. “If you answered them, we’d be happy to go back to our desks.”
Jasper Lo of the New Yorker was additionally fired. Global Citizen
“All right, leave,” Duncan stated earlier than strolling back towards his workplace.
After Avalle presses him on his refusal to reply questions, Duncan insists: “I’ve directed you back to your workplace.”
“We’re concerned about our colleagues!” an worker says off digicam.
Another clip shows Duncan standing outdoors his workplace, asking the indignant employees to “move forward” towards the opposite facet of the ground earlier than coming into his workplace and closing the door.
“We’d like you to answer questions,” Avalle says. “We’d love to move forward.”
Condé Nast prompt there’s more to the story than the clips show.
“The video footage shared by the union captures only a portion of the incident,” a company spokesperson advised The Post.
“Several additional minutes are missing from their version.”
Jake Lahut of Wired was additionally let go following the confrontation with Duncan. Instagram / @jakelahut
Condé Nast beforehand characterised the union members’ conduct as “aggressive, disruptive, and threatening behavior,” saying it might not be tolerated.
The media conglomerate stated Thursday it should “provide a workplace where every employee feels respected and able to do their job without harassment or intimidation.”
The company added that the firings adopted conduct that “crossed the line into targeted harassment and disruption of business operations.”
Alma Avalle of Bon Appétit was one of 4 employees fired by mother or father company Condé Nast. Getty Images
Union leaders stated the video disproves Condé’s justification for the firings.
NewsGuild of New York president Susan DeCarava advised the Wrap that the footage “speaks for itself,” arguing the employees had been “clearly exercising their legally protected right to engage in concerted action” and that management was “inaccurately spinning the events to justify firing four of our members in an attempt to intimidate our union.”
DeCarava referred to as Condé management’s conduct “outrageous and false,” accusing executives of attempting to “bully them into silence.”
She stated demanding solutions from management “as a group is a common collective action workers take when necessary to hold management accountable.”
