The owner of the clothing brand Kyte Baby has apologized, twice, after an worker was allegedly denied a work-from-home option after adopting a 22-week-old premature baby.
Ying Liu, the founding father of Kyte Baby, has taken to TikTok to answer the criticism after worker Marissa Hughes was canned after being denied her work-from-home request to take care of her newborn within the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital nine hours away.
“I actually need to apologize to her and the community, and I actually need to take this chance to say that I’m sorry,” Liu said in a second apology video Thursday.
Liu had posted an apology the day before, but quickly doubled down after critics accused her of sounding “scripted.”
Hughes and husband Rawley, of Dallas, adopted their baby Judah Al Haven Hughes in late December after getting a call from their adoption agency.
Judah was situated nine hours away in El Paso, Texas, where he was born prematurely at 22 weeks and barely weighed a pound, the brand new family revealed in a GoFundMe.
Because the child was born early, he has “various health concerns” and requires an prolonged hospital stay and is predicted to be released from the NICU by the tip of March, Hughes revealed within the fundraiser that has garnered nearly $40,000.
Hughes, who has not publicly commented on her allegedly firing, reportedly requested to work from the hospital while her baby was admitted but was only offered two weeks.
The Post has reached out to Hughes for comment.
The brand new mom’s tenure at Kyte Baby is under a yr, meaning she doesn’t qualify for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
To be eligible for FMLA, an worker must work for a corporation with greater than 50 employees and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours within the 12 months prior to the leave of absence, based on the Department of Labor. FMLA provides employees with 12 weeks of unpaid leave, while still maintaining advantages, akin to healthcare.
Adoptive parents are also eligible for maternity leave if an organization offers it. It’s unclear if Kyte Baby does.
Hughes, who suffered from infertility before deciding to adopt, was allegedly told if she didn’t return after two weeks, she would not have a position at Kyte.
Nonetheless, Hughes’ sister revealed in a now-deleted video posted on TikTok that one other Kyte worker, who was pregnant, was offered leave and was even invited to the corporate’s warehouse to select up products from her registry.
Liu said she was the one to “veto her request to go distant” and admitted in hindsight it was a “terrible decision, insensitive, and selfish.”
“[I] was only focused on the incontrovertible fact that her job has all the time been done on-site and I didn’t see the opportunity of doing it remotely,” the child brand owner said within the TikTok video.
“I cannot imagine the stress she needed to undergo not having the choice to return to work and having to take care of a newborn in NICU,” Liu continued. “Pondering back, it was really a terrible mistake. I own 100% of that.”
Liu said she would review her HR policy and procedures because she agreed with the critics that Kyte Baby needed to “set the instance.”
She also praised Hughes, calling her a “unbelievable woman” with the “biggest heart.”
Liu also offered Hughes her job back and said she would receive full advantages and will do it remotely as requested. She also said the brand new mom would proceed to be paid until she decided to return.
“Your original position is all the time open for you once you come back,” she said.
It’s unclear if Hughes will return to the Dallas-based company. The Post has contacted Kyte Baby for comment.
Earlier this week, Hughes gave an update on baby Judah’s condition. She said he could be transferred to a Level 4 NICU and he was affected by a blockage in his intestines, had an infection, and holes in his lungs and heart.
The owner of the clothing brand Kyte Baby has apologized, twice, after an worker was allegedly denied a work-from-home option after adopting a 22-week-old premature baby.
Ying Liu, the founding father of Kyte Baby, has taken to TikTok to answer the criticism after worker Marissa Hughes was canned after being denied her work-from-home request to take care of her newborn within the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital nine hours away.
“I actually need to apologize to her and the community, and I actually need to take this chance to say that I’m sorry,” Liu said in a second apology video Thursday.
Liu had posted an apology the day before, but quickly doubled down after critics accused her of sounding “scripted.”
Hughes and husband Rawley, of Dallas, adopted their baby Judah Al Haven Hughes in late December after getting a call from their adoption agency.
Judah was situated nine hours away in El Paso, Texas, where he was born prematurely at 22 weeks and barely weighed a pound, the brand new family revealed in a GoFundMe.
Because the child was born early, he has “various health concerns” and requires an prolonged hospital stay and is predicted to be released from the NICU by the tip of March, Hughes revealed within the fundraiser that has garnered nearly $40,000.
Hughes, who has not publicly commented on her allegedly firing, reportedly requested to work from the hospital while her baby was admitted but was only offered two weeks.
The Post has reached out to Hughes for comment.
The brand new mom’s tenure at Kyte Baby is under a yr, meaning she doesn’t qualify for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
To be eligible for FMLA, an worker must work for a corporation with greater than 50 employees and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours within the 12 months prior to the leave of absence, based on the Department of Labor. FMLA provides employees with 12 weeks of unpaid leave, while still maintaining advantages, akin to healthcare.
Adoptive parents are also eligible for maternity leave if an organization offers it. It’s unclear if Kyte Baby does.
Hughes, who suffered from infertility before deciding to adopt, was allegedly told if she didn’t return after two weeks, she would not have a position at Kyte.
Nonetheless, Hughes’ sister revealed in a now-deleted video posted on TikTok that one other Kyte worker, who was pregnant, was offered leave and was even invited to the corporate’s warehouse to select up products from her registry.
Liu said she was the one to “veto her request to go distant” and admitted in hindsight it was a “terrible decision, insensitive, and selfish.”
“[I] was only focused on the incontrovertible fact that her job has all the time been done on-site and I didn’t see the opportunity of doing it remotely,” the child brand owner said within the TikTok video.
“I cannot imagine the stress she needed to undergo not having the choice to return to work and having to take care of a newborn in NICU,” Liu continued. “Pondering back, it was really a terrible mistake. I own 100% of that.”
Liu said she would review her HR policy and procedures because she agreed with the critics that Kyte Baby needed to “set the instance.”
She also praised Hughes, calling her a “unbelievable woman” with the “biggest heart.”
Liu also offered Hughes her job back and said she would receive full advantages and will do it remotely as requested. She also said the brand new mom would proceed to be paid until she decided to return.
“Your original position is all the time open for you once you come back,” she said.
It’s unclear if Hughes will return to the Dallas-based company. The Post has contacted Kyte Baby for comment.
Earlier this week, Hughes gave an update on baby Judah’s condition. She said he could be transferred to a Level 4 NICU and he was affected by a blockage in his intestines, had an infection, and holes in his lungs and heart.
