Former Aritzia employees accuse retailer of ‘culture of fear’ workplace

Former employees of Aritzia, the Canadian women’s fashion company, have spoken candidly about their negative experiences working for the retailer, which they allege was “exploitive” and overly “high-pressure”.

In a 24 July article published by Insider, the outlet detailed the remarks of 53 individuals who either currently or previously worked for Aritzia, in which “several of whom said that while the world of fashion is notoriously cutthroat, working at Aritzia was particularly gruelling”.

Allegedly, the negative culture was linked to the founder of the clothing brand, Brian Hill. One employee who worked in the company’s support office, and was close to Hill, said: “I think a lot of people in that organisation feel worthless. They have been berated and degraded for so long.”

Additionally, other employees reported having to sign confidentiality agreements and exit contracts, and requested they be anonymous in Insider’s story, because they were afraid the company would “retaliate”. A few allegedly stated that working for the company was similar to “being psychologically abused”.

According to Insider, four ex-employees associated Hill’s leadership tactics with “fear and intimidation”. The individuals thought back to corporate meetings, recalling other coworkers losing sleep or feeling sick the night before. “If you said ‘so many’ or ‘a lot,’ he would go off for five minutes about using facts,” one individual alleged. “It definitely came across as public humiliation.”

Another former employee specifically referenced Hill’s “tests”. “He once held up a pen and asked an employee: ‘What is this?’ When she replied that it was a pen, he threw it, saying: ‘Wrong, it’s a blue pen,’” the former employee recalled to Insider. However, an Aritzia spokesperson told the outlet that Hill has never thrown a pen, denying the claim.

“He just wants to see you fail publicly,” the previous support office worker alleged, claiming that Hill’s “tactics” were “to essentially tear down somebody’s self-confidence, to a point where he knew he had full control over that person”.

Another former employee added: “You can’t throw things in a meeting or intimidate or harass people without everybody knowing. What I found unfortunate about it is that it becomes accepted.”

Insider also referenced the comments of an individual who used to be a style advisor for the store. “He definitely plays a bit of a hot-or-not game. ‘We don’t need to keep this girl; she’s not cute.’ ‘This girl can get promoted because she looks a certain way,’” they allegedly said. Two people who previously worked for the brand attested to this, claiming Hill would allegedly give raises to the employees he thought were “attractive” or “embodied the Aritzia ‘cool girl person’”.

Allegedly, employees were evaluated on a SMPS method: style, motivation, personality, and smarts, according to previous retail workers. Insiderreported: “Five people who worked at retail stores in Ontario between 2005 and 2019 said they had to rate their own - or their colleagues’ - appearances out of 10 in daily huddles, addressing where they fell short. No one was allowed to be a 10.”

One former employee who used to be a store manager in Canada purportedly admitted she gave another employee a low style rating for their outfit, but bumped the score up to an eight when her merchandise manager asked her to do so because the employee was “skinny”. “Automatically, if you’re skinny, you’re not going to be below a seven,” another past employee reported.

The Aritzia spokesperson denied the claim and said the brand “has never directed its boutique employees or managers to do this” and that this particular incident “would be wildly out of sync with company policy and does not reflect the company values”. They added that SMPS is no longer in place.

Two Black individuals who used to work for the brand as style advisors in Toronto discussed experiences with their managers asking them to grab coffee and add enough milk to it so the drink was the colour of their skin. The company’s spokesperson said the company would never tolerate those actions and therefore aren’t aware that this has happened.

Da’ani Jetton quit her position as a style advisor in New York because she didn’t feel the company substantially supported Black employees, according to Insider. Jessica Porter and Candace Jerry were allegedly forced to run clothes back to the sales floor, steam clothes, work the register, etc – all tasks white employees weren’t asked to do. Aritzia’s spokesperson denied Porter and Jerry’s claims, adding the company “has never assigned tasks to employees based on their race”. “All employees play a role in maintaining our boutiques,” the spokesperson said.

Anyango Juma Miguna, a former worker in the Newmarket, Ontario, store sued her store manager in May. The filing alleged: “She arrived for her shift on 28 March 2023 to find the manager waiting for her in front of the store. The manager blocked Miguna from entering, “shoved” her into a nearby hallway, and handed her a termination letter. The filing alleges that, as the manager did this, she called “Miguna a ‘dirty African’ who should not be working at Aritzia”.

Insider also reported Aritzia’s style advisors tracked their sales per hour (SPH) to determine their shift schedules. Former style advisor in Toronto, Hannah, explained that all SPHs would be disclosed at the start of the day and the employee with the lowest would have try to increase their number “even if that means cutting another girl down or forcing the customer to buy stuff that doesn’t look good on them”.

According to two previous employees, calling out for medical purposes wasn’t easy. Kaycelyn Pascual allegedly quit the same day she called out sick because she couldn’t hand in a doctor’s note to her manager in person like they wanted her to.

“I always say if you make it long enough at Aritzia, you drank the jungle juice, and now you’re serving it to other people,” the Vancouver support office worker told Insider.

Nadia Mahammed, an individual who worked as a customer service representative, recalled the Toronto office having a “crying corner” and referred to management as “abusive”. The Aritzia spokesperson denied the claim that the company had a “crying corner”.

Speaking to Insider, one previous benefits coordinator said she filed a case with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for mental health discrimination. “You don’t dress the part, you don’t look the part, you don’t speak the part,” her manager would allegedly tell her. She was fired in August 2021 after going on disability leave, but for “restructuring” reasons.

Following the murder of George Floyd in June 2020, Aritzia received complaints from two previous Black employees about experiences with racism in the workplace. Hill put out a statement and explained that the company would be “investing in ourselves, holding ourselves accountable, condemning intolerance and injustice, and making sure that Aritzia is a place where all people can come and have successful careers”. He also said Aritzia had spent more than $1m on a new diversity and inclusion program.

Insider looked at two anonymous complaint letters sent to the company’s support office. The first was signed by “P” and referred to Hill as a “bully” and “the primary abuser”. According to the spokesperson, Aritzia “strongly disputes the characterisations and allegations made in this letter”. The company has since limited current employees’ access to Hill.

“Since 1984, Brian has played a key role in building Aritzia from a small single retail location to a global fashion player that prioritises excellence and Everyday Luxury for its consumers. The company’s success has been a direct result of its high-performance culture. Brian is an exacting CEO, just like that of any other highly profitable global company, but he is also notably devoted to fostering the careers and growth of his employees,” an Aritzia spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “Brian is committed to mentorship throughout the company at every level, and he is deeply appreciative of the contributions that every single one of the more than 60,000 team members who have walked through Aritzia’s doors over the past nearly 40 years have made. The allegations in this story are not representative of the company culture that Brian and his leadership team at Aritzia have fostered and built.”

They added: “At Aritzia, we pride ourselves on our inclusive culture, incredible diversity, and opportunities for professional growth, and we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and inclusive work environment free from discrimination. We recognise that our customer base is an expansive and diverse community, and we strive to reflect that community in our boutiques through the brands we carry, the people we hire, and the self-expression we encourage through fashion. More than 250 of our current employees have had an incredibly rewarding career with Aritzia for 10 years or longer.”

In the statement, the spokesperson added that Aritzia is “proud that our global team, led by CEO Jennifer Wong, is 85 per cent women and 54 per cent identify as BIPOC” and that the company continues to “invest in and strengthen our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)”.

“In recent years, we have hired a head of EDI and launched employee advocacy groups; implemented mandatory training and education on systematic racism, racial inequity and social injustice for all current and future members of our teams; and evaluated every area of our business to ensure equity, diversity and inclusion are representative of the communities where we work,” the statement continued. “We are committed to continuing this work and to providing resources for our employees to listen, learn and take action.”