In April 2016, I was hired as a floorset associate at Bath & Body Works. I was a full time college student obtaining my Bachelor’s in Business Administration. Being that I had a flexible schedule, I was a part time associate working full time hours as a salesfloor associate selling to customers and because of my welcoming and warm vibe I was able to build clientele. I remember my first day like yesterday, when ‘A Thousand Wishes’ won the Consumer Choice Award for the second year in a row. I was at the lease line spraying demos and engaging with patrons right outside of the store in the mall, and getting them inside the store to shop. At Bath & Body Works, we are in a fast-paced selling environment. We are known for bombarding and barely giving customers breathing room to shop and keeping the same dialogue. We would be required to maintain a high SPAH (Sales Per Associate Hour) and transaction goals which would earn you more hours to work. Customers would think that we were working on commission because we would be forced to sell so hard to them. But we would be paid the same whether we had $50 in sales per hour or $300 in sales per hour. My selling was different: luring customers in with a smile, being relaxed while making that connection, not sounding robotic, making sure to fulfill their needs while shopping with us and to remind them that this was a safe place. I did all this while demonstrating our 4 behaviors to win and maintain brand values while working at pace. That was what made me stand out in our team: treating our customers simply how I would want to be treated while shopping, talking with sympathy and empathy, even if a person did not want to be bothered and was just looking around. I would respect their space, demo and remind them that we are here to help while maintaining a high SPAH and transaction goals.

At the end of their shopping experience, I would thank our customers for stopping by to unwind and shop for fun fragrances along with getting to know them on a personal level. Overall during my time with Bath & Body Works I have learned and gained so much knowledge from associates and managers with different work ethic that they have brought to the Westchester location. But over time I have noticed how intense the environment was and later observed how stressed my management team was. I finally took the Temporary key holder position in the holiday of 2018 and became Key Holder soon after i got to experience everything all at once. I later graduated with my Bachelors in April 2019 and stayed committed and dedicated my time with the company. 

There was one person I truly looked up to when I first started and that was Shadé. I watched Shadé work her way up from regular associate to top seller to keyholder and to supervisor. There came a point of time when we did not have a store manager and she played both roles effortlessly under pressure. Her talent was recognized but Ellen took her for granted. By working with Shadé, I was able to be properly trained and have a better understanding of how to run a business. She is the main reason why I kept pushing myself really hard to become the best seller I could be. She was one of the best managers I have ever had. She was transparent to all associates and made sure everyone was treated equally throughout her time there. Her work ethic left a stamp on our store and I kept her voice in the back of my head throughout my years working in the company. 

For 5 consecutive holidays I would sacrifice my personal freedom just to be that extra helping hand and to make sure that our store at The Westchester Mall stayed afloat without a problem. There would be days where I would work a morning shift and stay to close because of multiple callouts and end the day working floorset until 4am in the morning. My life revolved around BBW, but I didn’t mind. I would come in early or stay late for the betterment of the store and my co-workers. I knew what had to get done and knew my help and commitment to the team was appreciated. I stayed motivated, and kept moving with pace, energy and the urgency needed to help our team get through the tough days. Knowing that we made it through holiday would have me wondering what the following year would have in store. What I experienced only made me a strong, reliable seller and team player. That made my associates know that they too can ask for help and pick my brain on how to be a more effective seller. 

 

Our District Manager 

During my employment at BBW, I have known Ellen Ellefsen as our “Big Brother.” She would always watch us on the camera, observing our every move and waiting for us to mess up. She would call almost every day whenever we were low on sales and/or conversion making it seem like it is our fault that sales were low. When I first started working there, I would always notice that everyone within management was under stress even on slow days. We would have a fun day selling then after one phone call the whole atmosphere changed. You would see management frantically running around the store switching associate zones. There was a time that I was happy being a regular associate and turned down promotions because I witnessed the way our district manager spoke to our management team. I did not want to be under the same stress as my managers or be spoken to with disrespect. There were days when we would not have a customer in our store for 1 hour straight and Ellen would call the store asking why we are not making money. Situations like this, where we had no control over if no one walks into the store, Ellen would have no understanding of. There are also countless times when we associates would engage with a customer then break away from them to give the time to shop around but Ellen would call the store literally 5 minutes after the breakaway and ask why the customer hasn’t been spoken to. She would only point out that we were not with the customer at that particular moment, but wouldn’t look back at the footage to see we were just with them for a few minutes giving them the Total Customer Experience (TCE).

Since September 2018, Ellen would inform new management that transferred to our store that we were a problem store and did not like change. Ellen and I started having issues while I was under different management in 2019. I was going through personal issues that had interfered with my work life from being late to not being able to make it to work some days. I eventually took a leave of absence for a week and Ellen took that as me not caring for my job and wanted my manager to fire me immediately. Ever since then I was a target and would have in person meetings with Ellen and Ingrid regarding my “attitude problem.” There would be countless times when Ingrid and I would work together and she would not talk to me about anything. But when I would walk into the store and not greet her, she would notify Ellen and we would have a surprise meeting about how I don’t acknowledge her. I always told Ellen that Ingrid would speak negatively about me to my co-workers and to other managers in the district. But Ingrid would always deny what was said and act like the victim in every meeting we had. Ellen would make it clear that any issue I would bring up is not relevant and she would not want to communicate with me because I am not approachable. Information that would be shared with other management teams would be so specific that there would be no way for me to make up lies. It was very frustrating what my store manager was doing and my district manager not believing me. 

One of my last encounters with Ellen we’ve had a conversation about our phone and email capture numbers being low and she asked how we can improve on giving that TCE at the register. I have mentioned that throughout my years working with the company I can naturally get customers to comfortably click “yes” on the screen based on our closing conversations at the register. Each interaction I have with our customers are different. She later on told me that I was wrong and should stick to the robotic dialogue. Our customers are not receptive to this phrase and don’t hit ‘yes’ so we can capture their information to receive coupons.

Store Manager

Usually the store manager is someone to look up to for guidance, maintain a healthy work environment, praise their team during success and through opportunities. But once Ingrid Leter came to our store, everything changed. My first encounter with Ingrid was over the phone to discuss my attendance. By the way she spoke to me I knew that we would bump heads. We had not even worked together or met in-person at the time and she was already reprimanding me without getting to know me. 

During Ingrid’s first year as our store manager, she would walk around the store telling customers that she did not know the product when there was a question asked because she was new. She emphasized the importance of product knowledge to the associates, but did not learn the product herself. She would open the store and stay an hour before closing almost every day, making us question our role and wonder what was the point of having our own keys for the store. Every time we would have a question, she made sure to first emphasize “I get paid salary,” and the majority of our questions would be left unanswered. She would rarely take breaks because she gets paid salary and insisted that being on the floor would keep associates on their toes.

She would not explain payroll to us but made sure to edit her own punches. Key holders and supervisors are able to punch in sick time/PTO for each other but Ingrid made sure to prevent us from doing so. Ingrid also made sure to not teach us SLT certain things so that only she would be capable of doing them. There were some times when Ingrid would close the store with 2 associates, then send them home while she stayed in the store alone to complete paperwork. All employees knew that we all had to leave as a team at the same time. Throughout the years of Ellen visiting our store she would always question why our back room is a mess. Ingrid would tell Ellen that whenever she is not here, we key holders would just throw product anywhere - which is not true. We always try to keep the back room well organized and easy to find product but Ingrid would spend time moving things where only she can find them. This would lead to clutter and not remembering where items are placed. 

Unfortunately anything that was brought to Ingrid's attention would result in retaliation. During non-peak hours of the year, there were less hours to give associates because the store was not as busy. Employee’s paychecks would be affected and they would have to get a second job to help make up the difference in income so they could pay their bills and survive. Once Ingrid would find out that an associate would get another job and their availability was not as open, she would retaliate and cut their hours even more than what they already had because BBW was not their only priority. She took it personally that they had to find another job in order to make ends meet since our company could not provide them with the hours and paycheck they needed.

She told associates that whatever concerns were to arise, she and Ellen are friends and they would be the only people to talk to and never mentioned that there is a poster in the backroom with a number hotline that the associates would like to utilize if they do not feel comfortable speaking to management. She wouldn’t make the anonymous ethics hotline or HR hotline as known resources to the team. Some associates did not know how to voice their concerns to management so they would isolate themselves then eventually stop showing up to work feeling hopeless.

While working with associates, we would learn so much from who they are, what their goals are in life and who they would like to become. This led to unfolding their strengths and opportunities as an employee. As I worked my way up to management, I had the advantage of being transparent and understanding because I was in their exact shoes starting off as a new associate. I worked hard to make my associates as comfortable as possible, making sure to acknowledge their effective engagements with customers and growth as individuals. During quiet days we would exercise our 4 behaviors and values, take advantage of role playing and have fun playing games based on product knowledge. I would always remind them that it’s okay to be themselves and just have fun selling. As long as you are comfortable, our customers would be just as comfortable and become an open book with you without hesitation.When Ingrid is in the business she would always have the new associates shadow me and for me to coach them on how to become the most effective seller yet she did not like how I got along with everyone I worked with. Any time an associate would come up to me for a quick question on the floor about a product or some pointers after an engagement with a customer, Ingrid would immediately speed walk towards us to listen to what we are talking about then quickly send the associate to another zone. But when it came to Ingrid, she did not acknowledge strengths or opportunities. Undoubtedly, Ingrid would tell associates that I was a negative vibe and a bad influence to others. It would be very confusing because while Ingrid will go on PTO she will leave us an email of what is expected while she’s gone. I would be in charge of coaching the 4 behaviors and the other two SLT members will be in charge of register training and email/phone capture every time. 

 

Associates would be assigned tasks that weren’t their strength and Ingrid would complain about how slow they would move and would cut their hours for “not working up to potential”. She would assign multiple tasks to do and would not give breathing room while tasks were being done. Throughout the years Ingrid was known for yelling at associates from across the room and rudely telling them what to do while walking away from them. Even when an associate makes a mistake she would yell at them.. not everyone that comes to work has automatic knowledge of everything. As a manager it is ideal to coach at the moment to help your associate to better understand something. Ingrid would not coach the associates but would definitely strip them from tasks and even their hours if they do anything wrong. It would feel like boot camp in BBW - we are allowed to task but as soon as customers walk into the store, they become out #1 priority. If an associate was favored, Ingrid would have them stick to tasking. If an associate was not favored she would hover over an associate and make them feel that they were doing their job wrong with every step they took. Even when some associates would offer a helping hand, Ingrid would decline the offer and make sure that only the associates she favored do the job. Ingrid would receive shipment in the mornings and would WAIT for her favorite associates to arrive in the late afternoon to complete shipment. Undoubtedly, Ingrid would give her favorite associates the most hours and sadly when other associates ask for more hours she would tell them that she doesn’t have hours to give them. It is ideal to distribute hours evenly to prevent our associates from burning out and give everyone an equal opportunity to work.

Ingrid would claim to be a cheerleader to her associates but it would be only towards the associates she would favor. Ingrid constantly finds faults and points of issue instead of ever showing any type of appreciation. Whenever it comes to customers giving compliments and wanting to speak to the manager about me, I would hesitate to bring the customer to Ingrid because she will never have anything nice to say about me. Whenever a customer would speak to Ingrid about my exceptional service, she would respond, “yes but we all are great sellers.” On the other hand, when a customer tells Ingrid how much of a great experience they’ve had with an associate she hired she would boast and say, “Yes! I only hire the best!” She would only acknowledge the hard work and great service of her favorite team members, while the other employees wouldn’t get recognized for their performance.

 

Supervisors 

While being manager at my location, Ingrid went through 4 supervisors over the course of 3 years. All 4 supervisors transferred or left our store due to the constant micromanagement and ongoing situations that occurred. Every idea that was brought up to Ingrid was always disregarded. There were numerous issues that each supervisor has had with Ingrid. Although they were second in command and specifically in charge of brand standards and visual merchandising, Ingrid would never let them do their jobs as long as she was present in the store.

The first supervisor was with us before Ingrid and later transferred to another store within the district because she and Ingrid did not get along. She was micromanaged and did not have a  say with brand standards, merchandising or floorsets. Our second supervisor was a transfer from Ridge Hill close to holiday 2019, her name was Scarlet. Out of all supervisors under Ingrid, she was treated the worst. Whenever she had an idea for floor plans, it would never be accepted. Eventually she tried to be more hands-on and do things on her own and Ingrid would change things back to how she wanted them to be. Scarlet tried her absolute best to give each associate an equal opportunity for success, but any and everything that Scarlet brought to Ingrid was quickly disregarded. There was a time when Ingrid wanted Scarlet to write me up for my tardiness and Scarlet did not agree simply because I was not the only associate to clock in late. This caused tension between them in the store. 

When it comes to attendance in our store I do remember that it is okay to call two hours before your shift started to remind the manager on duty that you were being late. But things happen in life and sometimes associates would end up calling 30 minutes before their shift started. Although it does affect our business, I always made sure to let the associates know that it’s ok, they’re human, try to reach work safely and we can later talk about how to make your schedule fit you more. It was something we were used to. Ingrid would willingly do a double whenever associates would call out and complain about it. Not acknowledging that she has a SLT that can work the hours. 

One thing for sure that if you were favored, Ingrid would ignore the fact that you came in late almost every day without calling ahead of time. I have print outs of all my write ups for coming in 5-10 minutes late on certain days when I know I have communicated with the store about my reason for tardiness. Sick days would be questioned. Any associate that was not favored would get their hours cut for calling out because it would mean that they weren’t reliable, even if they had a legitimate reason for calling out. Ingrid would ask if the associate sounded sick over the phone. There were two times when I called out. And each time another SLT would call out a little after me. Ingrid would tell other store managers within the district that I made plans with the other SLT to not come into work.                                 

Scarlet transferred to another store February 18, 2020. Within a week we had an associate transferred on February 24, 2020 to our store to become our third supervisor nicknamed “Sie Sie.” Immediately Ingrid would talk negatively about me to her but Sie Sie took it upon herself to observe the environment to have a better understanding of what was going on in our store before passing judgment. Later on it was clear that Ingrid was a malicious person that takes everything personal and would make it difficult for management to play their role.

 

There was a floorset March 1st 2020 and the whole team was scheduled to work except for me. We even had another manager come from Cross County to come help with that specific floorset. Sie Sie had told me that the reason Ingrid didn’t put me on the schedule was because she wanted me to “learn my lesson and learn how to respect her.” Instead of getting upset, I reached out to the Store manager of BBW in the Galleria Mall and took my talent to their store to help execute their floorset. A couple days later I had a surprise meeting with both Ingrid and Ellen regarding the floorset. Ingrid complained about me going behind her back to help another store without her knowledge. I explained how it felt weird how I was not on the schedule at all for March 1st. Ingrid responded how key holders don’t need to be part of the floorset (but in the hand book it is written that Key holders can execute a floorset being that they were under the supervisor). Which also made me think from there, “they will make up their own rules in a way that benefits their argument.” Ellen mentioned that our supervisor needed help to execute the flooorset that is why they borrowed another manager from Cross County to help instead of me being there because whenever we have a floorset, associates would rather come to me for help instead of the supervisor. (Which was not a problem because our supervisor was willing to learn). I brought up the conversation Ingrid had with SieSie about purposely not putting me on the schedule so that I could “learn my lesson” and Ingrid denied what was said. Ending the meeting Ellen stated that we are not allowed to borrow associates from either stores although we were 3 streets away from each other. It was puzzling because if either store was short staffed it only made sense to help out each other. Over the years even before Ingrid arrived, we would provide help to the store in The Galleria Mall and they would send managers and/or associates to our store when we needed extra coverage. We are suppossed to be a team with our co-workers not only in our store, but be there to help other stores in the district when needed. Our location and the Galleria location are both in White Plains and considered “sisters stores'' to rely on each other for help and guidance. Ellen would encourage these pairings and utilize each other for coverage. Why would we not be allowed to help other stores all of a sudden when the previous expectation was help cover at other stores when they were short staffed? When did this “policy” change?

 

COVID

For about 3 months we were on lock down and Ingrid made numerous group chats to keep the team updated with what was going on with business. There was a time when Ingrid purposely did not add me in a group chat simply because of how she felt about me. As a store manager, you would make sure to add your whole SLT management team first and then add associates. That is an example of her singling me out. First an SLT noticed that I was not a part of the chat and tried to add me in on their own.. then one associate immediately noticed and quickly reached out to me to let me know what was going on. After the associate announced that I was not included in the chat, Ingrid made a new group chat with me in it. These were scary times when the whole world was uncertain about how everything would operate. We weren’t sure about getting paid and when/if we go back to work, if we had to file for unemployment, it was all a very difficult time to be not working. Purposely leaving me out of the store group message during uncertain times was extremely unsettling and straight up wrong.

We were able to come back to the store after the lockdown in July 2020. I came into work and met up with SieSie on the sales floor. We started talking about what the game plan was for re-opening the store in a safe way with the new COVID procedures in play. Immediately Ingrid stormed out of the backroom and spoke over me to have a conversation with SieSie about the game plan. This was not the first and last time Ingrid has done this. I paused for a second, observed Ingrid and Sie Sie talking to each other like I did not exist then I finally told Ingrid that I am still present and asked what we are doing as a team. Ingrid responded, “I am talking to my supervisor about store changes'.” I responded, “I understand that you guys are speaking about floor plans, I just wanted you to know that we are a team and to include me in the floor updates. It is just the 3 of us here right now so please do not exclude me from this conversation.” After that day we had been working together as a team and preparing the store to reopen safely. Unfortunately Ingrid was still singling me out of certain things and I just had to remind myself to not let things bother me and kept pushing. One day Ellen told Ingrid to ask me to go over to the galleria mall to help them prepare for opening. Without hesitation I went. Funny thing was that I remembered that we had a meeting about no longer borrowing associates. August 11th 2020 I officially went to the galleria to help out for reopening.

August 2020 to October 2020 I was given the least hours out of the rest of SLT managers. During my time with BBW I understood that it only made sense to distribute hours with SLT first then with associates. It was because Ingrid and I did not get along and she would claim that I was not reliable due to my availability. Any conversation I would try to have with Ingrid would never last after the 3rd sentence. So I reached out to HR about the matter and that was the only time HR was ever helpful. For a couple of months I was given my hours back, then it went right back to me having the least hours, so I let it be. On October 27th, 2020 Ingrid sent an email to the store before she left for PTO. In the email she wrote, “Please do not clock in early; this is a warning for everyone if you decide to come in earlier than scheduled this will result in an AR (action required write-up).” I knew that part of the email was towards me because I would clock in 15 minutes early for my morning shifts to make sure that everything for open procedures were completed before shipment came.

Our store would get from 20-100 boxes of shipment depending on the day and I was known for making sure that all of the shipment was put in their respective places before opening the store. Whenever I would work a 8am-5pm shift, I would clock in at 7:45am and start opening procedures: Store recording, print out the DCO (color it in and write sales goal along with conversion goal), print out PMT, (by that time it will be 8am) open registers, walk the floor to make sure all marketing is up to date and store is full and abundant, fix up anything until shipment comes. Shipment usually reaches our store from 8:15am-10am at our store. It only made sense to be prepared for when shipment comes. 

Candle day used to be for one day only in BBW. But after COVID we would have it for a whole weekend in the first week of December. During that week Ingrid asked me if I would like to go over to the Galleria to help them prepare and support them throughout the candle weekend. I asked if I could think about it and Ingrid said that she needed a response at the moment. So I told her “no”. Over the years working with BBW I have noticed that Ellen would have managers “temporarily” transfer to a different store to help out until that store later became their permanent location, sometimes without that managers knowledge or consent.

A little after holiday on January 10th, 2021 an associate was very dehydrated and asked Ingrid if she could get a bottle of water. Ingrid responded, “I stopped buying you guys water bottles, you guys waste them.” I came in later that day to do a closing shift and I noticed that we didn’t have water bottles anywhere in the backroom or the refrigerator. I mentioned to SieSie that Ingrid purchased chips with the store’s money but no water. That’s when I found out that Ingrid was not buying water anymore. When Ingird came to the back room I mentioned to her that she brought snacks and no water. Ingrid told me that associates waste water so she decided not to buy water anymore. Confused, I asked, “who was wasting the water?”

Something was wrong because I would close the store almost everyday and would never experience the massive amount of half empty water bottles Ingrid mentioned. The only time we would experience some half empty water bottles would be during holiday when associates are moving faster than they usually do and leave water bottles around unintentionally. Concerned, I told Ingrid that this is a pattern she had developed overtime. One day she is not buying snacks because we eat it all, then she’s not buying water because we waste them the next day. The company sends stores money to buy essentials! Water is the main essential! And we were in a pandemic. We need fluids in our system especially during the winter time, during the peak holiday season when we are the busiest. As a store manager you must communicate with your associates and SLT. It is ideal to have a talk with your SLT to figure out a better way to distribute the water bottles so that everyone could have at least 2 water bottles during their shift and to label their water bottles. Just remind them about the limited water supply that we have.

Ingrid said that she would give them water if they asked. But Ingrid would not be at the store all time so I told her that her actions were ridiculous and inhumane. What would she do if everyone asked for water? I told her that when our associates are thirsty they would have no choice but to leave the store, mess up conversion and grab a cup of water because our water fountains were not a clean drinking source and were not allowed to be used once we re-opened from COVID lockdown. Imagine that every day with different associates, expecting water to be there everyday. You are not supposed to punish us like that. Usually when we run out of snacks/water that’s on us and we can get it ourselves. But when the time comes and the company sends us money you can’t just strip us of water because you want to. Immediately Ingrid stormed out the backroom for a couple of minutes and later came back. Ingrid told us she would get cases of water next time and that was the end of that situation… or so I thought. This is one of the many times Ingird would make decisions without speaking to her SLT and we would sadly find out about sudden changes through our own associates. After that, there would be times when we would find hidden snacks in the most random places in the backroom. Ingrid would only give snacks to associates if they asked for it.. sadly not all associates would know if we would have snacks or not unless they asked.. 

Later on in the same week I had another surprise meeting with Ellen and Ingrid regarding the water bottle situation. Ingrid told Ellen that she felt attacked the time I spoke to her about the water bottle situation. I mentioned to Ellen that it was only appropriate for Ingrid to speak to SLT about how we can help distribute and preserve water in a better way instead of deciding to punish the associates by not buying any water with the store’s money. As expected, Ellen agreed with Ingrid and said that she would stop buying water as well. Since associates kept wasting water, we should stop buying it. The meeting ended with me thinking to myself that Ingrid would not take accountability for her actions. April 20th 2021 Shemiah and I received our 5 year anniversary books from the company and Ingrid hid them from us. Until I found out through my supervisor and requested to have our books. This was not the first and last time Ingrid would hide things from us.

Whenever our store would get a shout out for our hard work on the weekly conference call with the district, Ingrid would say that we only made the daily sales plan because of a specific sale or a low sales plan. On the weekly conference calls, district manager Ellen would remind store managers that they should be closing on the weekends, alternating days with the supervisors. However, Ingrid would be opening or doing mid-shifts on the weekends and have the supervisor and keyholders closing Friday and Saturday Nights. Ellen is supposed to review the weekly schedules and wouldn't say anything about how Ingrid wasn’t the closing manager on the weekends. This was strange because she always made it a point with past store managers to make sure they were closing on the weekends. They would do it and they would alternate with the supervisors so everyone gets a fair chance at weekend nights off. Ingrid would use her personal phone to communicate with associates on their given off day and when she would not be in the store even on her PTO. 

After dealing with the constant disrespect and micromanaging, Sie Sie left the company May 17th, 2021. 

Our 4th supervisor started July 5th, 2021 and had to have his hand held the most during his employment with us. Myself and my fellow keyholder would run every floorset. It came to a point when his help was not needed because my coworkers and I were able to understand the set up for the wall/tables changes and go through the Gingham Gateway without help. He was not able to take charge and delegate tasks to properly run the floorset. He left the company November 15th, 2021

Joan (known as Stacy) is now currently the 5th supervisor. To my knowledge, I know that you have to work your way up management. But Stacy started off as an associate in the beginning of holiday of 2021. It was brought to management's attention that Stacy would get around 40 hours every schedule posted. Seasonal and core associates would usually get 5-20 hours a week. The associates would notice the obvious difference in hours they were getting versus what Stacy was getting. They would come up to the keyholders asking if Stacy was a manager because she was getting significantly more hours than them. The favoritism was clear to them, they could see it right on the schedule the inequities. During the month of October 2021 Ingrid would train Stacy to open and close registers. It was concerning knowing that a seasonal associate was allowed behind registers when I knew that no one but SLT were allowed behind cashwrap while counting the registers. This was later brought to my attention by some of our core associates. They became friends by working in the same company together in the past. It made sense as to why only they were always scheduled to work together almost everyday. They are friends. With no knowledge of floorset or how to properly run the business she immediately became our supervisor after I declined the offer to be the next supervisor.

Compared to the previous years, it was clear to see significant changes and favoritism during the holiday season. This was the first year as a manager I was not hitting overtime hours like I would during previous years during the busiest time of year. My hours were still reduced and this was affecting my paychecks and ability to pay my bills. In November it came to a point when I had to work an overnight job just to make sure I could be making enough money to survive and pay my bills. I stayed with the second job until May 2022.

Around the end of December, Ingrid hired a new key holder named Cybria. Within the two weeks of Cybria working with us, Ingird started to talk negatively about me to her. One day Cybria and I were working together and she brought up the time I called HR on Ingrid for cutting my hours. Shocked, I reminded Cybria that it was unprofessional for Ingrid to tell her confidential information like that and she should tell Ingrid to not speak about me in such ways. As days gone by, Cybria came up to me again with things Ingrid would tell her about me. Again I told Cybria that she should let Ingrid know how unprofessional it was to talk about other workers and she should not be involving her in any way. But Cybria responded “I don’t want my hours cut, I don’t want to end up like you!”. From there I knew she would never stand up and speak her mind. On January 12th, 2022 Ellen visited our store. Before leaving Ellen held a meeting with Ingrid and I regarding a situation that happened in the store. I took the opportunity to voice what was going on within management and how Ingrid was sharing confidential information that happened between us with Cybria. Ingrid again denied what she said and mentioned that it was concerning because Cybria just started working with us and she would have a conversation with her. Ellen did not seem to bring any acknowledgment to my frustration and everything was just brushed under the rug. On Wednesday February 16th Cybria told me that Ingrid pulled her to the side to speak to her relating to the meeting Ingrid, Ellen, and I had. Ingrid told Cybria, “How would you feel if you tell me something and I go back to tell other people what you said. You are new here. I lost trust for you and you have to work to gain my trust back.” The fact that Ingrid is constantly targeting me and comfortably speaks negatively about me to everyone, especially new hires, shows the lack of respect she has for me. 

 

Later on I noticed that Cybria started to play both sides and Ingrid started to favor her more so I started to distance myself from her. She was able to clock in earlier than scheduled, go to other stores to help out, and take multiple in store paid meals. Just about everything that I was restricted from doing, it was perfectly fine for her to do. Ingrid even offered to give Cybria a $1 pay raise so that she could assist Stacy because Ingrid noticed that Stacy was not fit for the supervisor position 

 

Within a couple of weeks I had a meeting with both Stacy and Ingrid. Stacy explained that she felt uncomfortable working with me because I did not talk to her. If it was not work related I did not have to speak to either of them. When it comes to work, I would rarely have to ask Ingrid or Stacy any questions for help unless it was a situation that required a higher manager to intervene. I made it clear to Stacy that I did not have an issue with her and continued with my days working. Since Stacy has become our supervisor she would rarely be scheduled to work floorsets. It would be frustrating because a supervisor focuses on the visuals for the store as they are considered the “brand manager.” Whatever mistakes Stacy makes, Ingrid will make sure to cover it up and protect her. Stacy is known for saying  “I’m going to call HR on you.” Stacy makes the comments and tries to act like she’s joking, but there is nothing funny because of the history that I have had working with Ingrid. On June 8th we had a floorset for SAS. I was speaking to an associate about birthdays and I said my birthday is August 17. Stacy overheard the conversation and said, “Richa, is that why you are so crazy because you’re born August 17?!” I took a pause and responded that I was not crazy and immediately ended the conversation. Stacy is also known for making slick comments about me to other associates thinking that everything she says would stay confidential. Recently she has moved up to and became the Assistant store manager. Everything I would do in the store from updating tables to walls would be a problem. 

 

HR has done nothing to resolve the issues I have brought to them over the years. The HR representative that I was assigned was Lindsey. My most recent report was made on June 15th, 2022. A month passed and I have yet to hear back from anyone. I was told for years that once Ellen becomes friends with representatives in HR, you would most likely never have any issue resolved. Based on my experience, I have to agree with this statement. I have been filing reports with HR since 2019, and they have done little to nothing to assist me or hold my higher ups accountable. It has been discouraging that they have years of my reports and are supposed to be a resource for employees to use, yet they failed to provide that reliable assistance.

We have had so much talent come and go because of how poorly people were treated. The sad thing is that Bath & Body Works would have us watch the same videos of zero tolerance of harassment and discrimination over and over yet I have experienced discrimination of all kinds, reached out for help and nothing has changed. In the middle of June 2022 It was brought to my attention that Ingrid was asking associates to write negative letters about me. On June 13th,  Ingrid had a meeting with an associate and my name was brought up in the conversation. No matter the positive feedback the associate will give Ingrid, she would always say that I do not work hard unless she is present. Ingrid has reminded the associate that she has been taking notes and it was enough to get me terminated while mentioning that Ellen Ellefsen was her friend. 

I asked for the surveillance to be reviewed to show proof that I work so much harder than Ingrid thinks. If I did not work hard, why would I be assigned to run floorsets alone? Not only because the supervisors that she hired can’t work them or be in charge of them, because she knew that I am capable of completing a floorset efficiently.

 

On Friday July 1st, Cybria gave her keys to an associate to hand into management because she didn’t like how toxic the work environment has become and how Ingrid was trying to force her to write a negative letter about me. Stacy received the keys and immediately called Ingrid to update her on what had happened. Soon after, Stacy told the associate to not inform me about what was going on, but I already knew everything that was going on. Immediately Ellen assumed that I was the reason Cybria left the company and sent Rose (BBW Store manager in Galleria Mall) to be her eyes at our store. Rose came to our store July 2nd with the demeanor and preconceived attitude of me being a bully in management. Stacy told Rose that I don’t respect authority and was sick of my presence. For the short amount of time Rose visited our store, she found out that I have been with the company for 6 years. Without knowing me on a personal level or even working with me, she stated that there was something wrong with me because I haven’t moved up in management. She does not know that I have been offered promotions before, but I turned them down because I know what is expected of the roles and they are not worth the pay upgrade for the amount of pressure Ellen would put on you. Rose came into the store with the assumptions about me that she heard from others, when I had never even met her in-person until July 2nd. Rose later shared more confidential information about what was going on within management to a regular associate and threatened the associate by telling her that she can lose the possible promotion and her job if she were to tell me anything that was said. 

 

I gave in my keys and left the company on July 5th. From all the years of mental trauma I dealt with, I could not take it anymore. I was not valued, targeted & discriminated against, was not believed and was not helped with any problems I had. My store manager (Ingrid), district manager (Ellen) and HR partner (Lindsey) all failed to create a healthy work environment. They would discredit and invalidate anything I experienced or shared with them and no one would hold them accountable to find solutions and change. I tried my absolute best to condense everything that had happened to me for 3 years, there is so much more I have not written. I deserve better, we all deserve to be treated like humans. I think about the other employees that would just leave the company because their voices were never heard. They probably had an even worse experience due to upper management’s inequities in our district! There are many aspects that need to be seriously changed in order to provide a safe and healthy working environment where employees actually want to go to work everywhere without fear of pressure or retailiation. Until then, Bath & Body Works will continue to lose great talent and potential leaders that they claim they are always looking for.