G-Star Anon, an innominate collective of former Black and Brown employees, have assembled to seek due restitution in the form of employment reinstatement (Where applicable), or severance pay for all laid-off U.S.-based G-Star RAW employees, subsidize COBRA for the aforementioned employees, and the immediate resignations of the following seven G-Star RAW executives for years of deliberately inflicted racial pain, suffering and negligence: Robert Schilder, Global CEO, Nicole Clayton, General Manager (GM) North America, Cassandra Mitchell, Director of Stores, Joseph Quinones, VP of Product, Andrew Sherman, Director of Finance, and Heather Cohen, VP of HR*. We are also seeking the resignation of Kate Rowan, Head of Women’s Business & Business Development; who was hired a few weeks before the massive furloughing of Black and Brown corporate employees during COVID-19. 

*UPDATE - Heather Cohen was either removed or pressured to resign last week (Aug 12). Backstory: Corporate employees have been reaching out to management for weeks requesting the return of their personal belongings. 2 months had passed since the date of layoff (May 27) and we were fed excuse after excuse; until a very terse email went to all employees demanding our personal belongings, but not before calling out Clayton and Cohen for butchering the off-boarding process with cruelty and lack of respect. There was no excuse because Sherman made weekly trips to the office, even though Cohen and Clayton’s statement was that no employee(s) past or present were entering the building. Not sure why they felt the need to be deceitful. 

Granted our belongings were returned within days of these emails, but they were either shipped to old addresses on file or severely banged up upon receipt. What’s interesting, G-Star RAW requested their laptops back from employees, immediately after employee lay off, and miraculously return receipt boxes were sent to the correct addresses then. Cohen was purportedly made the sacrificial lamb for that fiasco, however, as she has zero power and only acts at the behest of Clayton.  

Black and Brown people the world over are demanding fair and equal treatment by our government, employers and fellow citizens after the tragic death of George Floyd which highlighted the systematic killing, targeting and oppression of Black and Brown people not only in the United States but across the globe. This CHANGE.ORG Petition brings awareness to the systematic killing of Black and Brown souls within the halls of G-Star RAW’s offices, and the systematic targeting and oppression of its Black and Brown employees. 

We are calling for the company’s wholesale partners - Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s (Federation Department Stores), and Saks Fifth Ave. - to divest from G-Star RAW until there is a clear commitment to reinstate their targeted Black and Brown employees (Where applicable) and or pay severance which was never paid and subsidize COBRA. It is no secret, as the world has come to learn, that Black and Brown people are negatively and disproportionately affected in Corporate America with regards to various aspects of employment, notwithstanding a global pandemic that has (at a rate not duly commensurate with their White counterparts due to institutional racism) ravaged their communities.

Starting with the Global CEO, Robert Schilder, has been the embodiment of negligence - he has repeatedly hired uneducated and ill-equipped White women who hold no experience successfully leading diverse teams, and who when challenged to implement policies that avert racism, have retaliated against, intimidated, and bullied G-Star RAW’s Black and Brown employees.

Kendra Palmer was a former General Manager at the organization but was fired from her position in 2019 after group emails and instant messages were globally circulated citing bad behavior that led to toxic work environments, along with an underperforming North American retail business and rampant racism claims in the NYC office of 20-plus employees. Nicole Clayton took over and became the new GM but lobbied for the “Working title” of CEO. But instead of focusing on rebuilding the business by harnessing and valuing the vast skills and talents of the diverse employees she was charged with leading, Clayton focused more on discrediting their abilities and managing through fear, intimidation, and oppression, all leading up to the recent bankruptcy filing and this petition, which she has blamed on COVID and her predecessor. 

Clayton relentlessly bullied employees in the form of "Command Loop" emails, usually sent by the former receptionist, Brittney, reminding us that we have no grace period for being tardy and need to be at our desks and working by 9 am, which induced fear, panic and anxiety every morning. On its face, this may seem harmless but we assure you it is not: G-Star RAW’s Black and Brown employees cannot afford to (and thus do not) live in the city or on the outskirts of Manhattan; and, amongst a global pandemic and a failing MTA that is iconic for its delays, the lack of empathy and decency took an emotional toll on many. Additionally, spurred by cruelty and a lack of compassion, we were constantly infantilized by Clayton who also banned the flexibility of working from home prior to COVID-19 which would have served as a befitting accommodation for the employees who for reasons beyond their control (think systemic racism and white supremacy); were disproportionately forced to live further out of the city.

Clayton would send a daily “Don't forget to clean your desks before you leave,” email - ordering us to have our desks cleared each day as if to appear that we didn't work there and to remove ALL personal items. She would pair this with lies that the Global CEO, Rob Schilder was coming to the office the next day, only for us to find out Rob was on the other side of the planet. This was purposefully done in an attempt to intimidate employees through fear. 

The inexplicable need to fabricate information and operate deceitfully began at the onset of her employment. In the fall of 2019, Clayton fired April, the former Director of Retail, and hired her close friend Cassandra Mitchell two weeks later. When Clayton released the announcement that Mitchell was hired as the new Director of Stores, it made no mention of Mitchell’s most recent employer, Sam Edelman, which is where Clayton previously worked. She did not want us to know she hired a friend and former coworker, and co-opted HR to circulate this lie by omission. It is clear to see the motive behind why: Mitchell’s Linkedin stated that she left Sam Edelman in September, and April was terminated in October. So Mitchell was hired by her friend Clayton one month before April was let go and started two weeks after her firing. Clayton had our managers tell us that April resigned and that she accepted her resignation. The truth is however, she called April into the office at 8 am that morning and fired her before anyone arrived. 

This was a clear lack of integrity and ethics—but the worst was yet to come for us. 

Then came the elimination of sick days in February, right before a global pandemic was officially declared. During a March 6th Town Hall, employees dissented and her response was, "it's not illegal!" 

Another Friday in February, Ms. Clayton heard laughter from the common area lunchroom and approached the predominantly black employees gathered together and made the following unprofessional and disrespectful statement: “y'all seem to be having a good time--please be quiet.”

Later that February the new employee handbook emerged and mentioned "Termination" a whopping 39 times in a 58-page document. The language reinforced employee intimidation, particularly, G-Star RAW’s Black and Brown ones. We were forced to sign that we received it and that we agreed with its demeaning terms, or be out of compliance which would lead to termination. The policy was an exercise in corporate oppression masked as the pursuit of a best-in-class culture. 

It took us all but a few months to determine Clayton was a serial micromanager that falls prey to her many insecurities (One, purportedly being half-black and the other lacking a college degree), but also a racist that took pleasure in creating unnecessary hierarchies and policies that threatened termination at every turn (FYI, having one Black parent doesn’t absolve you of racism; especially when you are white-passing and a willing enforcer of the systems that seek to oppress those of us with darker skin in an attempt to align wholly with the white “race”). Note, Clayton made no mention of her heritage until she was called out for being racist. With a dishonest track-record like hers, it’s entirely possible she’s pretending to be mixed to inoculate herself from being pegged a racist. She did share with one other person that she was half-Mexican, so no one knows what to believe other than the terrible outcomes of her management. 

She demands complete compliance even if what she was asking for was absurd, illogical, damning to the business, and outright debasing. She harassed the Black Head of PR repeatedly, and once she left, she turned her barbs on the Black Head of E-commerce, formerly 1 of 4 Black men in the office. She would rarely meet with him as she did with the rest of senior leadership; and, when she did, she would leave her door open. He was not only micromanaged to the point of no longer being able to run the E-commerce business without needing constant approval, but she also would not respond to his emails requesting said approvals. Moreover, she would kill his revenue-generating ideas (which at one point led to a significant decline in business) only to have headquarters reinstate them. When she was forced to implement a solution of his by her superiors, she later verbally expressed her surprise that he held a “master’s” degree when she attempted to parrot her credentials and experience.

In February, right before Valentine’s Day, she set the eCom business up against the retail store business, unbeknownst to the E-commerce Head. We knew of her plans but we weren’t allowed to tell him. Clayton set a retail storewide 30% sale but made him run a website sale that was only 30% off selected product. There was a site glitch and the website was forced to discount the entire site at 30% too. He did 3x the business of the retail stores. We later shared with him the stunt Clayton tried to pull, and you could only imagine his feelings of despondency after learning his fears of being gaslit were finally confirmed.

In recent months, Clayton had two employees out on stress leave, in a tenure that hasn’t reached a year yet and at least three Black employees in intensive therapy to cope with the oppressive, toxic work environment. It is worth mentioning again that this was in a 20-plus person office. Her policy response to these mental health leaves was, “She reserved the right to request a second opinion, and if it differs from the first, she has the right to request a third opinion and that one will be binding and final. 

While refusing to let anyone work from home prior to the pandemic and wanting to know where we were at ALL times, she constantly disappeared from the office (and not to go on store visits as is a best practice for leaders in retail; the flagship team confirmed she had visited that store only once by her six-month mark). 

A Black female Store Manager, let’s call her “Sullivan,” visited the office Tues., Nov. 19th, and the very next morning we all received the MOST racially insensitive email that enraged the black and brown employee base. Clayton started the email with the following: Dear Team, We have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for staff and visitors where they and their possessions will be offered a reasonable degree of protection. Clayton admitted ”Sullivan,” was the catalyst; but Clayton felt it important to let us know immediately she didn’t feel safe and that going forward, the majority Black and Brown retail employees were no longer welcome at the corporate office.

Then COVID-19 happens. At which point, she decides to lay off all 4 of the Black men and 7 of the 9 Blacks in the office while keeping the recently hired white Head of Women's business whom she hired in April of 2020. She claimed Kate’s hire happened months prior and an announcement went out, but funny enough, NO ONE could find that announcement. And even if that were to be true, G-Star RAW’s Women's business is their smallest category, with even their wholesale partners refusing to invest in it, as it makes up less than 35% of overall sales. Investing in this area with a 6-figure executive salary in lieu of saving roles that fulfill needs that haven't gone away is callous, punitive, and demonstrates an acute lack of sound business judgment. She took no measures to cut executive pay, but instead decided to bolster her executive ranks during a pandemic and furloughed the Black Head of E-Commerce; one of the top revenue-generating parts of the business. Although, everyone knows she’s using Kate to intimidate Joe Quinones, VP of Product, potentially replacing him with Kate by keeping him in line. Apparently it’s working, he’s never been better. 

She also waited until three days before G-Star RAW’s company-sponsored health benefits were set to run out to inform those being furloughed they were now being laid off, on May 27th. This left most of us scrambling to quickly find alternatives, including a then 5-month pregnant employee who depended on regular access to doctors. This was doubly upsetting because the former VP of HR, Heather Cohen, had promised to give us enough time to make arrangements for alternate healthcare. 

Earlier in May, Clayton laid off all of the retail store staff, who were mostly Black and Brown. A handful of which have been called back to work, but most are still unemployed as she and her team seek to bring in non-black faces to fill those roles. 

The problem is, G-Star RAW has always had a terrible corporate culture in the U.S. office. We’ve had to witness lawsuits, wrongful arrests and Black employees being singled out and punished for not knowing their place, including the following incidents:

Management called the cops on an employee of color claiming attempted theft when he was only trying to retrieve personal items left in the office; he was subsequently wrongfully arrested, released, then terminated. He received a modest settlement.
Hazel’s wrongful termination by Palmer and corresponding lawsuit after G-Star failed to take reasonable steps to preserve her deleted emails and logins as it pertained to unpaid overtime pay. Leaving the judge to land in her favor by calling “The timing here is suspect, at a minimum.”

1. Juan’s (Former VP of Product) demotion from VP to a manager in favor of hiring Joe Quinones, Kendra Palmer’s personal friend
2. The marginalization of black voices in leadership (PR and Ecommerce)
3. One employee was referred to as a “Black Bitch” by a White female employee
Another time that same employee stated, “We need a receptionist but she can’t be Black.”

We feel the blame lies with Rob Schilder. He hires racist, unfit individuals to run a plantation instead of a business and treat us in ways that the Dutch G-Star RAW teams would never stand for. Subsequently, resistance to wrongdoing (including sexual harassment and racism) leads to termination and the marginalization of whoever these leaders deem as “no longer a good fit.” 

There were two highly educated Blacks with advanced degrees in low data entry roles who were managed by Sherman - one with a degree in Computer Science and another with an MBA in Marketing. Both were severely underutilized, underpaid, and had their careers suppressed. In addition, one of the last hires made besides Kate was a White Dutch male, Jurjen (hired in early 2020) that didn’t even have the authorization to work in the U.S when he arrived in the U.S. He previously worked at the Dutch G-Star Raw office but moved to America to join his wife. His work permit was quickly sorted out so he could take on a role assisting the Black Account Receivables Specialist. This Black specialist (who had almost two years with the company) was laid off May 27 - on paper due to COVID - but the just-hired White employee on a temporary visa was kept instead. 

Again, typically, we’re last hired and first fired, but in Clayton’s case, using COVID-19 as a cover to change the employee base by removing the majority of Black and Brown employees from the office, whilst the last hired (Whites) remain in their roles.

Clayton has claimed that she is of mixed race but as a white-passing individual knows full well (and gleefully embraces the fact) that she navigates the world as a white woman. How else would she have landed a role as a GM in America without a college degree when Blacks with MBAs and PhDs are struggling to even make it into lower leadership roles, let alone the C-suite? America does not work that way for Black Americans as hopefully, the world has come to learn by now through the awakening of the plight of Blacks in this country through the Black Lives Matter Movement. This is not a supposition. This is research, data, and numbers, which we know never lies. Thus it is absolutely vile and unconscionable that she would invoke minority status solidarity and then treat us as if we’re worthless field hands deserving of punishment for not obeying the house negro who master put in charge.

Clayton flounced around the office with her door always closed and created hierarchies in a small office of 20-plus people to create an “Us vs. Them” atmosphere. She would position her chair directly in front of her office door in the morning to see who came in at or after 9 am. One such employee, Amber, an account executive who lived in NJ and took multiple modes of transportation to get to the office, who also rightfully challenged troublesome requests by Clayton, was laid off amidst COVID during her 5th month of pregnancy. Amber experienced bouts of extreme stress and panic attacks due to mounting medical bills and a lack of health insurance. But according to CEO, Rob Schilder we were taken care of during offboarding with enough time to find alternative health care, plus employee assistance, whatever he thinks that is. Amber was one of our White allies and was punished by Clayton for being one of the only voices that stood against the oppression, right alongside us. 

We were expected to be seen and not heard.

Black history month came and went and she did nothing from a digital or store level perspective to celebrate the contributions of African Americans in the U.S. She did however send a tone-deaf racist email in February calling for stronger security protocols after a Black Store Manager showed up to the corporate office.

Clayton is only interested in the cache of her working title as “CEO” and not the health of the business or those who were entrusted to her leadership. 

Clayton fled to her second home in St. Paltz when the pandemic hit and refused to take pay cuts for her and the executive team to stave off furloughing corporate employees at the very least, which has allowed her to use COVID as a pretext for the dismissal of the majority of Black/Brown employees. We don’t have second homes to run to, nor do we now have health benefits anymore to weather this pandemic storm; the vulnerable were targeted without mercy. 

Both Kendra and Clayton have been siphoning company funds and paying their friends for over-inflated services. Kendra had her ex-husband provide print services (Minuteman Express) which employees complained were shoddy and over-priced, and when we found vendors that came in for half the price and with better quality samples, Kendra vetoed our proposals. Sherman would quickly reconcile the invoices. Now Clayton is having the finance team rush through and prioritize invoices for 3rd parties she has personal relationships with. 

There are zero vendor-vetting processes and both engaged in bid-rigging to get family and friends paid. 

Similar to her predecessor Kendra, Clayton is unfit to lead and needs to step down, IMMEDIATELY.

HQ in Amsterdam needs to issue an apology with clear next steps on how they plan to root out racism in their organization alongside rehiring the teams that have been targeted by Clayton and truly commit to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Part of this means having people of color in leadership and also listening to their expertise—we need both a seat and a voice at the table. 

Now all of this is happening while the brand is also lying to the public. One of G-Star RAW’s value propositions is that it is a sustainable brand, but they are incinerating clothing, at least in the U.S., while many brands have abandoned this practice. This invoice (click here) is proof-positive that G-Star RAW is engaging in this unsustainable practice and is grossly misrepresenting themselves to the public.

What our Black consumers don’t know is that the leadership at this brand isn’t very big on Blacks buying the G-Star product. They’ve tried to harken back to their “Modern Dandy” roots to deter “Urbandan Customers” frustratingly for them to no avail. That 30-Year Anniversary line was meant to deter the more urban customer in their pursuit of a new direction.

We want Black and Brown customers to know that if they treat their employees with such disdain, it’s the same disdain they have for their mostly Black customers. Black customers are decidedly moving in an economic direction that supports brands that support us as well as our need to support Black businesses. G-Star RAW will be one such brand we will exclude from our shopping lists if the status quo continues.

Closing this out, we must also mention Rob’s handling of racist employees, including Jeffrey D. This “leader” has engaged in so many racist stunts they’ve gone global. Yet, as a fan-favorite, he’s still employed. Rob has yet to terminate him. Some of his race-based antics include:

Stating there are too many Black models on our websites 
A failed attempt to determine the “Level of Blackness” of two employees from Curacao by the kink and curl of their hair — The one with curly/straight hair wasn’t deemed Black but the one with kinky hair was, “Othered.”
Although not responsible for the following, they happened nonetheless:

The “Colored By Nature” original campaign images have Black models with the word “Colored” painted on their semi-nude bodies — See images below. The PR Agency had to tell leadership it was far too insensitive for the public.
As well as a KKK-themed hooded-hat that Macy’s refused to buy into or carry because they were so offensive. See the image in the header.

Then there was the former Dutch Art Director at a marketing event that boldly stated, “G-Star RAW” uses Blacks as props. U.S.-based Black marketers and stylists got up and walked out.

We love the denim community and our fashion partners, Pharrell and Jaden Smith. Their understanding and support for the BIPOC community should join us in asking these individuals to step down. 

The remaining members of the US leadership team should step down as well. Their temperament is well-suited to Clayton and Palmer. Quinones is spiteful, vengeful and untalented; having led not one successful store campaign during his tenure, and with ZERO accountability. He and Palmer, and now Clayton have single-handedly destroyed the retail business. Sherman walks around the office and leers at our computer screens as he walks the hallways with his hands behind his back as if some modern-day plantation overseer reporting any perceived missteps to Clayton and Palmer before that. Cohen lacked leadership courage and is the executioner for Clayton’s spite, allowing HR to be used as a tool to protect and insulate Clayton and should resign. Funny enough, we were not allowed to work from home until now, but Cassandra Mitchell did so from her start date in late 2019. The company pays exorbitant hotel and flight invoices for her as her main residence is in Florida and our office is in NYC. Clayton sure takes care of her friends. During COVID’s furlough season, Mitchell was reassigned as a “Project Manager” with no projects to manage just so she could stay on payroll.

Bullying and institutions protecting her is the reason for her ascension because it certainly isn’t talent as proof in the decline of retail and e-commerce when she took over, with inconsistent peaks and valleys. Her leadership style is marked by cruelty and shaming. She destroys and drowns out diversity of thoughts and ideas that don’t align with hers as well as backgrounds she sees no connection with and no value in. 

Fashion can be incredibly toxic and racist at retail and corporate levels for Black and Brown people. We’re asking for change as Black culture is leveraged to advance your campaigns and add to your bottom line. We’re asking that you sign this petition if you’ve marched in any protest for George Floyd and if you stand against racism and strive to be anti-racist. Your activism is in vain if you don’t see the parallels here. You are what you do; not just what you say. Be courageous and stand with us to demand better for your Black/Brown brothers and sisters. 

Quotes from G-Star RAW retail employees:

1. “I’ve worked for G-Star RAW for 2 1/2 years...As a Black man, we are always stereotyped as...aggressive and threatening to name a few. During my time working for the brand, I was told to take a personality test that was not under my job description because as a retail leader I was very vocal about my store, my team, and the decisions I stuck by when it pertained to my location. My manager who is a white female deemed me as aggressive because of my “no-nonsense” demeanor and as a black man, I was extremely offended by this request. I later brought the situation to the Head of Retail to express my feelings on the request and although nothing was appropriately handled, I felt as though they did not understand the point of view of how that could make someone feel when giving them a request such as that.”

2. “With the success of my customer outreach I was asked daily to seek out more white customers who had demonstrated zero interest in the brand. I was denied management advancement several times in an effort to employ non-black workers. I was bullied by store and upper management with a false dress code policy. To dress a certain way to make white customers more comfortable upon entering our store. 

Our staff was encouraged weekly to switch up mannerisms to make white customers comfortable. To code switch. Due to staff not feeling comfortable in this toxic work environment I had to scout for more part-time workers due to absenteeism. None of the Black candidates were hired when presented during Clayton’s tenure.

Due to increased theft (internal/external) problems due to the negligence of floor management I was asked to follow black and brown customers to ensure product safety. I was encouraged to allow conversations that belittled black staff and customers to continue in fear of losing employment. I was instructed time and time again to deny card transactions ( that I refused to do) for certain customers which [is] not only against the law but discrimination; usually Black. What’s troubling here is that the brand is less likely to market to customers playing cash, which ties seamlessly back into Clayton’s plan of targeting a more “affluent” customer in lieu of less-desirable ones.”

Signed, 

G-Star Raw Anon