Kyte Baby CEO Apologizes a Second Time for Firing Mom Who Raised $41K on GoFundMe for Adoption

Kyte Baby, the baby clothing brand is under netizen scrutiny after their controversial decision to fire an employee who requested work from home following the adoption of a 22-week premature baby.

Though Kyte Baby CEO Ying Liu issued an initial apology, netizens called it out for being scripted and questioned its authenticity. Liu later confessed that it was indeed a scripted apology and posted a second apology video on TikTok.

Adoption Dreams of a Crowdfunded Mother

Marissa Hughes and her husband Rawley had trouble conceiving a child. After undergoing a vast number of tests, too many despairing doctors appointments, failed IVF treatments, multiple disasters of IUIs and the loss of three children resulting from pregnancy complications finally persuaded them to resort to  adoption.

After learning about the various paperwork and high costs associated with adoption, they launched a GoFundMe campaign, requesting people to donate towards  adoption fees, legal fees, court fees, agency fees and initial medical and counselling service expenses for the mother and the child.

After further waiting and by the grace of the netizens who joined in for a good cause, Marissa finally completed the adoption process on January 4, 2024 of a premature baby born at 22 weeks gestation. Baby Judah must remain in the NICU until March 2024.

That’s when in a sudden turn of events, Marissa, an employee of Kyte Baby, requested for work from home. Although, work from hospital in her case as she had to stay by the NICU to take care of the baby. But the company quickly established that they could only provide 2 weeks of work from home due to company policy and owing to Marissa having not completed a year in the company yet.

Once the news of her firing surfaced, netizens started sharing the plight of the couples and urged people to donate in support of them.

The Netizen Outrage and CEO’s Apology

As the story gained traction, more and more criticism flooded  the company’s social media handles. This, in turn fanned the flames of scrutiny, eventually leading to calls for boycotting Kyte Baby products.

This prompted the CEO to issue an apology for their mismanagement in handling and explaining their company policy. The majority of comments under the post alleged her apology to be cold and scripted, further tarnishing the company’s reputation and plunging it into even muddier waters.

Eventually, the CEO came out once again with a more elaborate second apology and an explanation of how Marissa rejected a two-week remote work opportunity. Instead, she had decided to work from the hospital itself, prompting the company to reject her request.

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Ying Liu, the founder and CEO of Kyle Baby, later revealed that she is trying to contact Marissa directly. She expressed her respect for all parents and the plights of those who undergo such processes.

Furthermore, she revealed it was an oversight on her part, and that she will be reforming the company’s HR policies to better suit parental dilemmas. Moreover, Liu offered Marissa a job offer without any definite deadline of joining allowing her to return whenever she wishes to.

Despite her profuse apology, the controversy has not settled. More and more medical professionals and moms are coming forward questioning the hypocrisy of the company policies. Evidence of another mother with the same qualification as Merissa given the same privileges is adding further fuel to the fire of controversy.

Some Netizens are even questioning the Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA), which requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave only for those parents who had put in at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months.

Although adoptive parenting is also covered by FMLA, it is not given the deserving consideration compared to naturally conceived pregnancies.

Although Liu has expressly stated her need to set an example in the industry by rectifying her mistake, netizens are eagerly waiting to hear about the upcoming announcements from the company to see whether it will bring about positive change in the industry.