A Black executive assistant quit after Condé Nast CEO gave her an English language guide as a gift

• A former Condé Nast assistant, Cassie Jones, quit her job after the company's global CEO Roger Lynch gave her a copy of "Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, a guide to English writing.
• "To say it was insulting is not even the right word," Jones told Insider of the gift.
• Condé Nast has been under fire for its toxic work environment over the last week.
• The company has also parted ways with Matt Duckor, the head of lifestyle and style programming for Condé Nast, after racist and homophobic tweets of his resurfaced.

An executive assistant at Condé Nast resigned from her position less than six months after she was hired because of an insulting gift from the company's global CEO, Roger Lynch, as first reported by The New York Times.

Lynch was brought on as Condé Nast's CEO in the spring of 2019. Cassie Jones, a Black woman, worked for Lynch for four months during his tenure. Jones had over 10 years of experience as an executive assistant when she was hired in July 2019, but her position at Condé was her first time working for a global CEO.

"It was a really proud moment," Jones told Insider of getting hired for the role.

But the position wasn't exactly what she thought it would be. By the fall, Jones has reached what she described as a breaking point. "Little things had happened that made me question if this was the right fit for me," she said, adding that she felt anxious every day at work.

Things came to a head on November 20, according to Jones. Lynch asked Jones to come into his office, and he gave her "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, a guide to standard English typically used for writing. Lynch said Jones could "benefit" from reading it, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Times.

As he gave her the book, Jones told Insider that Lynch referenced a few emails in which Jones had made minuscule grammatical errors. According to Jones, Lynch then told her that she represented him and his office, implying that her language skills needed improvement if she was going to continue to work for him.

According to The Times' sources, the incident "struck Jones as a microaggression," though she told Insider that she wasn't familiar with the term until a week ago. "To say it was insulting is not even the right word," Jones said of Lynch giving her the book. "I had lost my confidence as a person and as a worker. And I've worked for a lot of people. I've never had someone do something like that."

Jones said she went to the company's HR department the same day to complain about the incident. She then quit within a week of Lynch giving her the book, leaving it on his desk before she left the office.

Lynch told The Times he didn't intend for the gift to be offensive. "I really only had the intention — like every time I've given it before — for it to be a helpful resource, as it has been for me," Lynch said. "I still use it today. I'm really sorry if she interpreted it that way."

But Jones said Lynch's apology in The Times rings a bit false to her, as she said she made clear in her resignation letter that the book was a motivating factor in her decision to quit. "I think if you were really sorry you would've found a way to reach out back then," Jones said. "I would've appreciated that six months ago."

Jones also said she's never had a manager complain about her communication skills until she started working for Lynch, adding that her coworkers often call her the "people whisperer" because of her way of making everyone around her feel at ease.

Jones' story is one of many to come out of Condé Nast over the last week. The media monolith is under fire after allegations surfaced of a toxic work environment that singled out nonwhite people at Bon Appétit. The brand's lucrative videos were helping the struggling company.

Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport resigned on Monday after a photo of him in brownface resurfaced, but employees from the brand told Business Insider's Rachel Premack that Rapoport's picture was just the tip of the iceberg. According to the staff, few Bon Appétit staffers of color are compensated for their time in the brand's videos and Rapoport refused to make the videos more diverse.

Likewise, Rapoport repeatedly denied a raise to his former assistant Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, the only Black woman on staff at the magazine, despite the fact that she only made $35,300. "He treats me like the help," Walker-Hartshorn told Premack in an interview.

Matt Duckor, the head of lifestyle and style programming for Condé Nast, left the company after it launched an investigation into him when racist and homophobic tweets of his resurfaced. According to Business Insider's investigation, Duckor also failed to put nonwhite people in Bon Appétit's videos alongside Rapoport.

A Condé Nast representative told Business Insider that the company "is dedicated to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace" in a statement. A representative also said that Condé Nast is "listening and are taking seriously the concerns raised by our Bon Appétit team members," and it plans to publish its Diversity and Inclusion report by the end of the summer.

Despite the negative aspects of her experience at the company, Jones told Insider she's grateful for her time at Condé Nast. "I feel like it made me stronger and made me see my worth," she said. "I'm more confident in myself and my work, and I thank him for that," she added of Lynch.

Condé Nast did not immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment on this story.

UPDATE: June 15, 2020: This article was originally published on June 14 and has been updated to include comments from Cassie Jones after she spoke to Insider.

Do you have more stories from inside media you want to tell? Email rpremack@businessinsider.com.

• Read more:
• Bon Appétit's editor in chief just resigned — but staffers of color say there's a 'toxic' culture of microaggressions and exclusion that runs far deeper than one man
• Adam Rapoport's assistant of nearly 3 years gives an up-close view of the fallen editor in chief — and how Bon Appétit failed its staffers of color
• Top executive Matt Duckor is out at Condé Nast after homophobic and racist tweets and allegations of suppressing diversity by Bon Appétit staffers
• 'It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue': Vogue EIC Anna Wintour acknowledges 'hurtful or intolerant' content from magazine