KYTE Baby, a popular baby brand known for its baby clothes, bedding, and original bamboo sleeping bags, has found itself going viral for all the wrong reasons.
The company and its CEO are accused of firing an employee who recently welcomed a 22-week-old baby by not allowing him to work remotely.
Why is the “Kite Baby” drama trending?
On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, Kyte Baby found himself in a terrible situation.
Multiple reports have surfaced online accusing the company of firing employees who requested to work remotely while their newborn was hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nine hours away from the company's offices.
Kyte Baby is a baby brand specializing in bamboo clothing, bedding, and blankets.
The most popular product is the original bamboo sleeping bag, which the brand describes as the “Goldilocks of fabrics.”
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The stretchy, soft, temperature-regulating material is “perfect for crying babies, busy toddlers, and tired parents alike.”
On December 29, 2023, Hughes and her husband, Laurie, received a call from an adoption agency informing them that a baby boy who lived nine hours away needed adoption.
They quickly agreed to adopt a 22-week-old baby boy who was born prematurely and weighed just 1 pound.
Due to the circumstances, the new parents were told that their son would likely remain in the NICU until the end of March, close to his original due date.
Ms Hughes asked her employer, Kite Baby, for permission to work remotely during this period, but the brand allegedly denied her request.
The story quickly spread through social media, with users shocked that a newborn company would treat new parents in such a manner.
“Imagine the owner of a baby clothing company firing a mother (who never even asked for time off) because she wanted to work remotely to care for a critically ill newborn in the NICU. .” one user tweeted.
They added, along with the hashtag #Disgusting: “I have to say, it takes a pretty big coon.”
“Does your company sell products under other names? I need to make sure I don't accidentally buy from you guys and funnel every penny to a ruthless CEO.” wrote another X user.
“Imagine not having your baby as your brand and supporting the mothers who work for you and that baby.” 1 X user tweeted.
Some users of X, Instagram, and TikTok even urged others to boycott the brand as a result of this controversy.
“Forget about this company, boycott it going bankrupt. It won't even support its employees becoming mothers.” 1 X user tweeted.
Who is Marissa Hughes?
Marissa Hughes is a former Kyte Baby employee.
Her role at the company included looking after models, wardrobes, and everything in-studio from the set of the brand's photo shoots and marketing efforts.
According to her GoFundMe page, Hughes and her husband, Laurie, were eager to become parents.
“Our deepest desire is to grow our family and raise our children,” they wrote.
“We have been trying to do this for almost three years and we have endured more than we could have imagined.”
“We have undergone extensive testing, visited hundreds of doctors, taken hundreds of pills, given home injections, completed multiple failed IUIs, gone through IVF, I experienced serious complications and almost lost my life. [Marissa] I got pregnant three times during the surgery, but lost all three beautiful babies. ”
Hughes and her husband also shared their experiences as foster parents and their newfound adoption journey with readers and potential donors.
“Adoption has always been a desire and a calling that we felt our family would someday experience, but the timeline the Lord has given us is a little different than we expected.” they are writing.
“We are willing to accept this mission, but we cannot do it alone,” they added.
On January 3, 2024, Hughes and her husband released an update on their adoption journey, explaining that they had adopted a baby boy.
“He is currently 27 weeks + 6 days old and as stable as can be given the circumstances. However, he is still extremely vulnerable and has various health concerns,” they wrote.
“Please pray for healing for his body and wisdom for his medical team.”
“We need a miracle in this field. Ultra-small premature infants are rare, but 22-week-old infants weighing just 1 pound are even rarer,” the researchers added.
Sometime after that day, Ms Hughes is said to have asked her employer, Kite Baby, if it was possible for her to work remotely for the next few weeks.
Hughes wanted to be close to her newborn baby boy during his stay in the NICU.
Her request was denied and Kite Baby allegedly only gave Hughes two weeks of paid leave.
He was also allegedly told that if he did not return to work within two weeks, he would be fired.
However, not all social media users were on Hughes' side, with some explaining that Kyte Baby technically did nothing wrong.
“It all depends on the company's policy.” wrote one X user.
“Kite Baby offered her two weeks, but she didn't respond. It's all her fault at this point. She's been working for them for less than a year and wasn't eligible for FMLA. .”
“Kite Baby is not wrong,” they added.
Hughes has not yet commented on the story or whether he plans to return to Kite Baby.
She also has not responded to the company's CEO, who has publicly apologized twice following internet backlash.
What did CEO Ying Liu say to this?
Kyte Baby CEO Ying Liu issued his first public apology to Hughes on Thursday, January 18, 2024.
She shared the 90-second video on her brand's TikTok account.
“Hey everyone, this is Yin. I wanted to jump in here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her amazing journey of adopting and starting a family. “,” Liu said.
“I am also trying to reach out to her to apologize directly,” she added.
“Kyte Baby is proud to be a family-oriented company.”
“We treat both biological and non-biological parents equally,” Liu said.
“Through my personal and professional experiences, I have the utmost respect for babies, families, and the adoption community.
“However, that respect and goodwill were not fully conveyed to Marissa during the maternity leave discussions.
“It was an oversight on my part that she didn't feel supported like we always intended.
“As we originally offered her, we will find her a position should she decide to return to work.
“I would also like to apologize to the Kyte community. As the owner of the company, I want to assure you that we will always uphold our values.
“We will be reviewing our human resources policies and procedures to ensure they do not negatively impact our staff or community in the future.
“Finally, we are thrilled with her adoption and wish her and her family all the best.”
“Thank you for taking the time to listen,” she concluded.
The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times and received a fair amount of negative comments.
Many viewers questioned the sincerity of Liu's apology, calling it “robot-like” and “lacking empathy.”
One user wrote: “I love the way your lawyer drafted that statement. Very honest.”
Another user commented: “I love the sincerity of the apology being read out from a piece of paper.”
Kyte Baby responded to the comment by releasing another video of Liu apologizing.
The second apology video was uploaded to TikTok later the same day, Thursday, January 18, 2024, and has since garnered approximately 6 million views.
“Okay, I'll do it,” Liu said in a second apology video.
“So I just posted a public apology on TikTok. And the comment was right, it was scripted. I memorized it.
“I basically just read it and it wasn't honest, so I decided to go off script and tell you exactly what happened,” Liu said.
“I've been thinking about what went wrong, and what went wrong was how we treated Marissa.
“I was the one who made the decision to veto her request to work remotely while she had to stay in the NICU to care for her adopted child,” Liu said.
“In retrospect, this was a terrible decision. I was callous and selfish and only focused on the fact that her work had always been done on-site, and the possibility of doing it remotely was I did not know.
“But with a little sensitivity, understanding and flexibility I could have accommodated her, but I couldn’t.
“So I can't imagine how much stress she had to go through not having the option of going back to work and having to take care of her newborn in the NICU.
“So, looking back, it was a really terrible mistake, and I own that 100%.
“I know people are going to say you're just saving face or trying to save the company when there's a backlash, but that's true.”
“But at the end of the day, as a human being, as a mother, as a female owner of a business, especially a baby business, I feel like I need to set the record straight. My actions, my decisions, my shortsightedness.”
“I didn't do enough for Marissa and I didn't even reach out to her personally. I never talked about what happened to her until today.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to her and the community. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am truly sorry,” Liu said.
Liu then reiterated the need to rethink, review and change the company's human resources policies and procedures in a “positive” way.
He also said the company needs to “lead by example because we're in the baby business.”
It is worth noting that in the past few days, Kate Quinn from the same baby brand donated $2,000, and Runa Aziz, CEO of the lactation supplement company Legendary Milk, donated $5,000 to Melissa Hughes' GoFundMe. .
“As for Marissa, she is an amazing woman and has the biggest heart of anyone. I have told multiple people over and over again that I love her as a worker and enjoy working with her every day. ,” Liu said.
“She's one of the few people I actually see every day in the field,” Liu added.
“I really want to apologize to her again for the feelings and the damage I caused, but uh, we keep paying.” [Hughes] In addition to the advantages of remote location [Hughes] he demanded. ”
“We understand if you don't want to go back to work, but we will continue to pay you as if you were working remotely for the hours you proposed until you are ready to return,” Liu said directly. He said this. fuse.
“And your position, your old position, will always be available for you when you come back,” she added.
Hughes has not publicly commented on whether she plans to return to work, but released an update via her GoFundMe page on January 19, 2024.
“We are so grateful for everyone's willingness to pray for Judah and support our family in so many ways,” Hughes wrote.
“Your kindness, generosity, and compassion have brought so much comfort during this season, allowing us to relax and truly focus on being with Judah.
“The extra time spent bonding and collaborating with his medical team was invaluable, ensuring he received the best possible care as he continued his fight. ”
“I really wish I could hug each and every one of you and thank you personally,” she added.
As of January 21, 2024, the GoFundMe has exceeded its $50,000 goal and has raised nearly $84,000.
