Former Levi’s President Jennifer Sey talked about the internal blowback she faced after speaking out about school closures during the pandemic and warned about the stifling of dissent.
During her appearance Tuesday on the Sirius XM “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, Kelly asked Sey about how the CEO of the company Chip Bergh came to her for speaking out and warned her to “be careful.” Sey said it wasn’t just the CEO but all of her “peers, head of legal as well” who she said reminded her that when she talks, she talks “on behalf of the company,” which eventually led her to leave. (RELATED: For Levi’s, Freedom Isn’t Fashionable)
“And I said ‘But I don’t. I’m not. I’m a person,'” Sey explained. “‘I’m a public school mom.’ And eventually he [CEO] did talk to me. It’s not something he likes to do, have these unpleasant conversations. He’s a very nice person….It was the same kind of reminder. ‘You’re speaking on behalf of the company.'” (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Defends Piers Morgan, Says ‘In An Era Of Free Speech Being Stifled’ We ‘Need More’ Like Him, Not ‘Fewer’)
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“I was very careful not to have my title or the company in any of my bios, so it was clear even if you could easily find I was the president of Levi’s, it was clear that I was not speaking on behalf of Levi’s,” she added. “And at the end of the day, I’m a mom of four first. And if comes to ‘Well, you do speak on behalf of the company when you talk just because of who you are,’ I’d pick my kids and the kids in this country.”
The former president said when she spoke out about issues like Ahmaud Arbery’s murder, LGBTQ issues and politics that was fine. But it was when she voiced her concerns about the dangers of keeping schools closed, her job became in jeopardy. She noted, how even after she started speaking out in the spring of 2020, she was still getting promoted so it wasn’t a matter of her performance.
“I got promoted in October of 2020 to brand president,” Jennifer explained. “Before that I was the Chief Marketing Officer. So there were certainly no issues with my performance….And as you mentioned earlier, the conversation around CEO became very real at that point.” (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Says She Left ‘Son’s School’ After Boys Were Asked Weekly If They’re ‘Still Sure’ They Were Boys)
“But it was sort of conditional,” she added. “‘You have to watch what you say. You can’t talk about this anymore. You shouldn’t talk about this anymore.’ And I think, I couldn’t do it. I don’t even know how to describe it. I can’t.”
“The kids are hurting,” Sey continued. “It didn’t matter what the cost to me was. And it became clear there was a high likelihood I would lose my job. I certainly for a year have been very nervous about getting fired.”