Page Outsourcing puts Tapestry in the recruitment showroom: Coach, Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, 100+ hires, D&I, underrepresented groups and white-glove service. Lovely little display. Then the stitching starts to split: harassment allegations, HR complaints allegedly ignored, a counter-lawsuit the claimant called “retaliatory and baseless”, slashed Coach goods, applicant litigation, outlet-pricing allegations and an $8.5 billion merger that ran arse-first into the FTC. Page wanted polish. TCAP found the invoice under the floor mat.
The Pretty Bit
Page Outsourcing has a case study called 100+ IT professionals hired for Tapestry, the NYC-based luxury fashion company.
Tapestry, Page says, was the house behind Coach, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman. Page says it helped fill more than 100 roles, mostly IT at first, then finance, creative, HR, procurement and legal.
The copy is all pressed shirts and minty breath.
Candidate-friendly.
D&I.
Underrepresented groups.
White-glove service.
Lives changed: 100+.
There it is. Page’s little church bell.
Lives changed.
Sounds lovely, until you remember companies also change lives by mislabelling people, burying complaints, cocking up records, polishing rot and calling it process.
The brand sells handbags.
Page sells the hands that carry them.
TCAP checks what those hands have been wiping on the curtains.
White Glove Bollocks
White-glove service is one of those phrases that should make any sane person reach for a mop.
It sounds elegant. It means managed. It means careful. It means premium.
It can also mean: do not leave fingerprints on the mess.
Page uses Tapestry as proof that it knows people. Knows candidates. Knows inclusion. Knows how to make recruitment feel smooth and human.
Fine.
Then let’s look at the human end.
The Stuart Weitzman Problem
Stuart Weitzman was part of Tapestry when Thomas Gibb, a former executive, brought claims involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
The court record says Gibb alleged the brand’s Creative Director subjected him to a constant barrage of sexual harassment. It says he complained several times to HR and alleged those complaints were ignored.
That is not a bad day at the office.
That is HR standing next to a burning sofa with a clipboard, pretending the smoke is weather.
Then came the extra kick.
Gibb brought legal action and filed an EEOC charge. Tapestry terminated him and sued him and his flip-flop company, Tidal New York. Tapestry alleged conflict and confidentiality issues. Gibb called Tapestry’s action “retaliatory and baseless”.
There it is.
Not Coach.
Not Kate Spade.
Not Stuart Weitzman.
The other label.
Retaliatory and baseless.
Bit harder to put that on a glossy Page case study without it smelling like stale piss under the perfume counter.
Candidate-Friendly, Until The Candidate Bites Back
No finding here that Tapestry unlawfully retaliated. The court dismissed without prejudice on procedural exhaustion grounds.
That is the legal position.
The TCAP position is simpler: what a charming fucking backdrop for Page’s candidate-friendly trophy.
Gibb alleged harassment.
Gibb said HR ignored him.
Gibb went legal.
Tapestry terminated him.
Tapestry sued him.
Gibb called it retaliatory and baseless.
And Page is over here grinning about D&I and underrepresented groups like it just invented kindness in a blazer.
This is the Page Partners disease.
The sales deck says “people”.
The paperwork says “meat”.
The Handbag Buffet That Choked
Tapestry then tried to buy Capri Holdings, owner of Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, in an $8.5 billion deal.
The FTC sued to block it. The FTC said the deal would eliminate competition between Coach, Kate Spade and Michael Kors, including competition on price, discounts, promotions, design, marketing and advertising. It also raised worker-side concerns around wages and workplace benefits.
A judge halted the deal. The companies called it off.
So Page’s shiny customer was not some boutique fairy sprinkling inclusion dust over a mood board.
It was a corporate beast trying to swallow another corporate beast, only to gag on the regulator’s boot.
Scale is not virtue.
Sometimes it is just greed with better shoes.
Slashed Stock And Discount Theatre
Coach also had its own little bin-fire moment.
A viral backlash accused the brand of slashing unwanted goods. Coach then said it had ceased destroying in-store returns and would look to repurpose, recycle and reuse excess or damaged products.
Beautiful.
Luxury in the front. Cut-up leftovers in the back.
That is not a metaphor. That is practically a diagram.
Then there is applicant-process litigation alleging Tapestry failed to give job applicants adequate notice and a copy of their consumer report before taking adverse employment action.
And a pending Kate Spade outlet-pricing claim alleging inflated comparable-value prices made discounts look better. Allegation, not finding. Pending, not proven.
Still, the pattern is useful.
Pretty tag.
Ugly thread.
Pull once.
Whole thing starts looking like a knocked-off conscience in a dust bag.
Page Chose This Display
Page did not cause every controversy in Tapestry’s public file.
That is not the accusation.
The accusation is simpler and nastier.
Page chose this customer as a trophy.
Page put Tapestry on the shelf and said: admire this. Admire our trust. Admire our D&I. Admire our candidate-friendly process. Admire the underrepresented groups. Admire the white gloves.
So TCAP admired it properly.
The harassment allegations.
The HR allegations.
The retaliatory-and-baseless wording.
The blocked merger.
The slashed goods.
The applicant litigation.
The outlet-pricing allegations.
Not Page’s liability.
Page’s chosen shop window.
And once Page puts it in the window, TCAP is allowed to point at the shit on the mannequin’s shoe.
The Closing Receipt
Page Outsourcing can keep the case study.
Coach. Kate Spade. Stuart Weitzman.
100+ hires.
D&I.
Candidate-friendly.
Underrepresented groups.
White-glove service.
Lovely.
But behind the soft copy is a customer with a public file full of sharp edges.
Harassment allegations.
Ignored-HR-complaint allegations.
A counter-lawsuit the claimant called “retaliatory and baseless”.
A merger blocked after the FTC came swinging.
Slashed-goods backlash.
Applicant-process litigation.
Outlet-pricing allegations.
Candidate-friendly, apparently.
Just do not be the candidate who complains.
That is when the smile drops.
That is when the gloves go on.
And that is when TCAP checks the receipt, looks up from the counter, and smirks like somebody has just fucked themselves in writing.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Sources
- Page Outsourcing – 100+ IT professionals hired for Tapestry, the NYC-based luxury fashion company
- Justia – Gibb v. Tapestry, Inc.
- Federal Trade Commission – FTC Moves to Block Tapestry’s Acquisition of Capri
- Associated Press – Maker of Coach handbags calls off merger with company that produces Michael Kors accessories
- Forbes – Coach Promises It Won’t Destroy Unwanted Merchandise After Viral Video
- ClassAction.org – Tapestry Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Credit Report Violations
- Top Class Actions – Kate Spade Outlet class action claims discounts based on inflated reference prices