Barneys New York is officially closing it’s doors for good this weekend and employees claim that they were the last to know.
According to Page Six, staffers are claiming they first discovered the already bankrupt store was closing its doors permanently when they read about it in The NY Post on Feb. 13.
Insiders claim management officially announced the news only days before, essentially leaving their last faction of employees out in the cold.
“It’s so unfair for them to wait to the last damn minute to say, ‘It’s your last day,’ ” one insider stated.
A memo was finally distributed to employees on Thursday, which confirmed what had already been reported in the paper. Sales associates were notified that Saturday would be their last day and support staff would have until Monday.
Insiders also told the post that almost all employees will not receive a severance.
The source told the NY Post, “at a Thursday morning meeting, Barneys management told staffers that they would receive five weeks of severance pay if they have worked for the company for two years or longer.” But longtime non-union staff aren’t eligible.
“They easily could have spent probably $25 million to $50 million on legal fees and crisis management, and they get paid,” said an insider familiar with the retailer’s bankruptcy issues. “People who have been employed, or vendors, sort of get shot . . . It happens in every bankruptcy like this and it’s not fair. The money goes to the wrong places,” they said.
