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Sterling jewelers paperless pay12/28/2023 And that was a company culture in which women were paid 40 cents less on the dollar than men - the company told me that was incomplete information, and they would not make it complete for me - and a company culture in which a corporate retreat was held every single year in Florida and was described to me as a total Bacchanalia. Can you tell us what was going on at management level?īRODESSER-AKNER: There were men and some women who advanced simply because they seemed eager to help the company culture perpetuate. And the reason that nobody has known about what was happening at the largest jewelry conglomerate in the country is because they had to stay in the confines of an arbitration system that the company controlled.ĬORNISH: There's a phrase you heard a lot in your interviews - the good, old boys. And arbitration is sold as a fast and efficient way of resolving an issue. It is your belief that this is where complaints go to die.īRODESSER-AKNER: I mean, it's been 14 years since Dawn left her Jared job and walked into a lawyer's office. I heard horrifying stories about women being trapped in bathrooms in hotel rooms and calling for help.ĬORNISH: Was this something the company had been keeping a secret? Or were these women not reporting?īRODESSER-AKNER: The women who reported were sent into arbitration, into Sterling's very own hospice for its personnel issues, which is called Resolve.ĬORNISH: And you're calling it hospice because.ĬORNISH. It was a regional vice president asking for women to get rounded up to come to his hotel room. But then it also was about saying to a woman in something Dawn had heard that an assistant manager had wanted to lick a saleswoman from head to toe. TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER: It could happen as lightly as asking a woman to wear something that's lower cut or brushing behind her. And a warning to our listeners - this segment contains descriptions that some may find disturbing. But also women from across Sterling stores shared stories that range from harassment to assault. She took it to attorneys, who soon uncovered much, much more - unequal pay across the company, which turned into a class-action lawsuit, yes. Her story starts with Dawn Souto-Coons, who discovered a wage disparity when she was working at Jared. The one she'll wear forever.ĬORNISH: But as Taffy Brodesser-Akner reports in this weekend's New York Times Magazine, the culture behind the scenes at Sterling hasn't been anything like the image they sell. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Yes. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: At Jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) I was wondering if you were free for the rest of your life. Sterling Jewelers, which owns Kay and Zales and Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry, built its business on the idea that women and romance are precious like the stones that sparkle in their stores.
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