Condé Nast frames this as a 'mutual, amicable agreement' reached through arbitration that allows 'all parties to move forward constructively.' The spokesperson emphasized neither party admits to any wrongdoing or liability — classic damage control language designed to make this look like a reasonable business resolution rather than a capitulation.
Insiders say Condé Nast wanted to make an example of these four. They fired workers for the crime of... asking questions in a hallway? The union called it illegal, and apparently enough evidence existed that the company quietly agreed to nearly two years' pay and positive recommendations for three of them. That's not how you settle when you're confident you did nothing wrong.
The confrontation happened on Nov. 5, 2025 at One World Trade Center; firings followed the next day (Nov. 6). Three workers — Bon Appétit's Alma Avalle, Condé Nast Entertainment's Ben Dewey, and The New Yorker's Jasper Lo — each received nearly two years' pay plus positive recommendation letters. Jake Lahut was fired one week before his probationary period would have ended.
Condé Nast tried to crush a union power move with terminations, but six months later they're writing checks for almost two years of salary and furnishing references. That's not arbitration — that's surrender wrapped in legalese.
Six months after Condé Nast fired four NewsGuild of New York union members for confronting management about layoffs and changes to Teen Vogue, the publishing giant has reached a settlement that reads like a quiet admission they swung and missed. Three of the so-called "Fired Four" — Bon Appétit's Alma Avalle, Condé Nast Entertainment's Ben Dewey, and The New Yorker's Jasper Lo — have had their terminations changed to resignations as active employees.
More damning? Each received nearly two years' pay and positive letters of recommendation. That's a lot of hush money for behavior the company once claimed "crossed the line into targeted harassment." The confrontation that sparked it all went down on November 5, 2025, outside the chief people officer's offices at One World Trade Center.
Union members pressed the executive about recent layoffs and Teen Vogue's restructuring — some of it captured on video and leaked to media. The next day, four workers were terminated and five more suspended for allegedly violating company policies. Avalle, Dewey, Lahut, and Lo became labor movement martyrs overnight.
But the fourth worker, Wired reporter Jake Lahut, didn't take the settlement. Here's why: he was a probationary employee at the time — just one week shy of gaining union "Just Cause" protections when he got axed. Condé Nast offered him a "lesser" deal, but he's refusing to play ball.
Instead, he's pursuing an unfair labor practice charge through the National Labor Relations Board, a process that could take years. "I'm prepared to wait months, years if I have to," Lahut told The Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, he learned he'd been pulled from an MSNBC hit before he even knew he'd been fired — an MSNBC staffer tipped him off.
The NewsGuild of New York is framing this as a victory, and honestly? They're not wrong. President Susan DeCarava put it bluntly: "[Condé Nast] wanted to send a message that if you potentially step out of line according to some random boss's assessment of what that means, that you could be fired." She called the outcome "a clear repudiation" of that strategy. Jasper Lo, now planning to study Mandarin at Middlebury Language Schools while freelancing, had more complicated feelings: "The company did something so egregious, but you can see from the terms of the settlement that they are admitting in so many ways that they're shouldering the blame." Meanwhile, Alma Avalle is running an independent literary magazine and staying active with the union — because apparently winning feels good.
