The children’s clothing brand Kyte Baby has been at the centre of a growing controversy after the company denied a parental leave request for a mother whose adopted newborn was receiving treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Kyte Baby CEO Ying Liu last week issued a social media apology to the employee identified only as Marissa, who said she had been fired from the company. But, amid insistences that the apology was disingenuous and growing buzz of a customer boycott, Liu later apologized for her apology.
Naturally, the second apology only brought more attention to situation — especially since Marissa had offered to work remotely from the NICU prior to being fired from her position as an on-site employee in the company’s photo studio.
Liu said she’d made a “terrible mistake” in her treatment of the new mother.
But in an interview with Today.com, Marissa alleged that some of what Liu said online is “not truthful and makes me seem dishonest.”
Though Marissa’s primary attention right now is on her newborn, many social media users sympathized with her struggle as a new mother working in corporate America.
The first apology
Kyte Baby, a Texas-based company that sells infant clothing and sleep sacs made with bamboo, prides itself on being a “family-oriented company,” according to Liu.
In her initial apology to Marissa, which was posted on Jan. 18 and has since been viewed 2.8 million times on TikTok, Liu appeared to be reading from a script.
“I wanted to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her incredible journey of adoption and starting a family,” Liu said.
Liu said she’d been trying to reach out to Marissa privately, but her attempts were unsuccessful.
Liu said “biological and non-biological parents are treated equally” at Kyte Baby.
She continued, claiming Kyte Baby offered to find Marissa a position within the company whenever she decided to return to work.
The company has since said Marissa denied the offer; but Marissa disputed this claim in her Today.com interview.
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She said that after her remote work request was denied, she was fired and told by the company that it would “consider” taking her back as an employee later on.
“I was never told I had a job,” Marissa said. “It was never my intention to quit — I was willing to work from the NICU!
“I did tell them, ‘This is a slap in the face…. My child is fighting for his life.’”
Kyte Baby told Today.com in a Jan. 19 statement that Marissa’s remote work request had been “mistakenly denied.” Marissa said prior to being fired, her managers, who are not Liu, arranged a remote work schedule for her. Hours later, the schedule and Marissa were terminated on Liu’s request.
On Monday, the company told the outlet that Liu at the time “did not feel (Marissa’s) job could be done remotely and if she could not return to the office after her maternity leave, then we would part ways.”
Marissa would have been allowed two weeks of paid parental leave, a Kyte Baby spokesperson told ABC News. As a condition, she also would have had to sign a contract saying she would return to her job for six months after the leave. Given her son’s poor health — as he was born prematurely at 22 weeks — Marissa felt she could not sign the contract.
The second apology
Liu’s first apology was met with critical responses from TikTok users who felt the CEO was doing performative damage control.
Only hours after posting her apology, Liu shared another video, which has been viewed 6.1 million times.
The CEO confirmed that she had been reading from a script in her last apology.
“It wasn’t sincere,” Liu conceded. “I think sincerely what went wrong was how we treated Marissa.”
Liu said she was the one who vetoed Marissa’s request to work remotely from the NICU, which she said was a “terrible decision” after the fact.
“I was insensitive, selfish and was only focused on the fact that her job had always been done on-site,” Liu said.
She said having “a little bit of sensitivity, understanding and flexibility” would have accommodated Marissa and her situation.
“I think a lot of the comments are right. We need to set an example because we are in the baby business,” Liu acknowledged. “I want to be above and beyond in protecting women and giving them the right protection and benefits when they’re having babies.”
Liu again apologized to Marissa, and for the second time stated that Kyte Baby would review its internal policies and HR procedures.
She said Kyte Baby will continue to pay Marissa her employee benefits and would approve her remote work request — though Liu said she would understand if Marissa did not want to return to the company at this point.
Liu said Marissa’s original position would remain open for her, if she wished.
The fallout for Kyte Baby
As both videos circulated online, Kyte Baby’s social media accounts were flooded with comments from people who insisted they would boycott the brand. Some expecting parents said they would be removing Kyte Baby’s items from their registries.
Marissa herself said she was surprised to hear about Liu’s TikTok apologies, as she did not personally use the app. She said Liu called her twice on the phone and wanted to apologize personally. Marissa asked to keep their correspondence in writing and provided her personal email address. Marissa said she did not receive anything from Liu.
Marissa has decided not to return to Kyte Baby. She also said she declined Liu’s offer to pay her salary for the hours initially proposed in her remote work plan.
For now, Marissa is dedicating her time and energy to her family. After years of intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and three miscarriages, Marissa and her husband are excited to bring home their adopted son Judah.
“All that matters is my son. I spend most of the day staring in his little incubator,” she told Today.com. “Our biggest prayer is for him to be OK.”
A GoFundMe page established for Judah’s medical expenses has already reached over US$92,150 (about C$124,230).
In the U.S., paid parental leave is not guaranteed. Only about one-quarter of American civilian workers have access to paid parental leave, according to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Labour.
In Canada, employers cannot deny parental leave to those who meet governmental guidelines. Employers are required to hold a person’s job position and cannot dismiss, demote, suspend or otherwise penalize an employee for the leave.
