The CEO of the baby clothing company Kyte Baby has issued two apologies following the company’s decision to terminate a new mother who was attempting to care for her premature baby during his stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
According to People, Marissa was working for Kyte Baby when she and her husband, Rawley, learned there was a premature baby boy who needed a home. They had gone through failed artificial reproductive technology attempts that included the loss of three preborn babies. They also acted as foster parents during this time and ultimately decided that they would accept that they likely were not going to carry a child to term and should explore adoption.
In December, they got a call that a baby boy had been born prematurely at just 22 weeks gestation and was in the NICU at a hospital nine hours away. They were in Dallas and their newborn son was in El Paso. Baby Judah weighed just over a pound, according to the couple’s GoFundMe.
Kyte Baby had been aware that the couple was planning to adopt, and Marissa contacted the company to alert them about her new son. She also requested the ability to work remotely while she stayed with Judah in the NICU. During a meeting with two of her bosses via video phone, they worked together to establish a new, remote schedule for her.
However, while reviewing the company’s maternity leave policy, Marissa realized it appeared to only be regarding biological families. Marissa reached out to Human Resources, who told her she was eligible as an adoptive parent and that she could take the maternity leave beginning at that moment or wait until after Judah was home from the hospital. Marissa said she would speak to her husband about the options.
Photo via GoFundMe.
The remote work option was pending approval from the company’s female CEO Ying Liu, but Liu chose not approve it. According to a Kyte spokesperson, “Ying did not feel [Marissa’s] job could be done remotely and if she could not return to the office after her maternity leave, then we would part ways.”
Marissa said she was fired about eight hours later. Her story went viral and as a result, there were calls to boycott Kyte Baby. That led Liu to post a video of her own on TikTok.
“I want to hop on here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled in the midst of her incredible journey of adopting and starting a family,” said Liu. But her apology fell flat with followers who criticized it for being scripted and calculated.
Liu then made a second apology video.
@kytebaby♬ original sound – kytebaby
“Sincerely, what went wrong is how we treated Marissa and I’m the one who made the decision to veto her request to go remote as she stays in the NICU to take care of her adopted baby. When I think back, that was a terrible decision,” Liu said.
“I was insensitive, selfish and was only focused on the fact that her job had always been done on-site and I didn’t see the possibility of doing it remotely. However, having a little bit of sensitivity and understanding would have accommodated her, and I did not accommodate her.”
Liu has now said the company will continue to pay Marissa benefits as well as for the remote position she requested and that even if she does not wish to return, Kyte Baby will still pay her for the hours Marissa had requested. Marissa declined the offers and has said she will not be returning to the company. However, she added, “We’re really encouraged to hear that there will be some changes made for current and future employees of the company.”
Marissa recently spoke with TODAY.com in her first interview since the story broke. She told TODAY.com, “It was never my intention to quit — I was willing to work from the NICU! I did tell them, ‘This is a slap in the face … My child is fighting for his life.’
“All that matters is my son. I spend most of the day staring in his little incubator … he has been my focus. Our biggest prayer is for him to be OK. To me, honesty is so important, and some of the things they are saying on their end are just not truthful and makes me seem dishonest and that really bothers me.”
She added, “It’s important for people to know that both biological and adoptive parents are families. Companies should recognize that children and families always come before career and that flexibility may be required when life gets hard. That’s compassion.”
