Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
Away co-founders Steph Korey (L) and Jen Rubio attend the 5th Annual NRF Foundation Gala at the Sheraton New York Times Square on January 13, 2019 in New York City.
- Steph Korey, the former CEO of luggage startup Away, informed employees via a Slack message on Monday morning that she is resuming her role as chief executive.
- She will share the duties with recently hired Lululemon alum Stuart Haselden, and the pair will act as co-CEOs.
- Korey also called out The Verge investigation that led to her stepping down last month, and said she was working with lawyers to dispute the report.
- "We hired lawyers from Clare Locke LLP, the country's top defamation law firm, and they have identified deliberate lies and distortions in The Verge's reporting," she said.
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The former CEO of luggage startup Away informed employees Monday that she will be resuming her duties as CEO and dubbed a recent investigation into its company culture "deliberate lies."
Steph Korey, the 31-year-old cofounder, stepped down as CEO in December following allegations that she helped perpetuate a toxic work culture at the company. These accusations were made in a bombshell investigation published by The Verge. Korey was called out in this investigation and subsequently issued an apology before stepping down.
But on Monday, she disputed The Verge's report and confirmed that the company was now working with lawyers.
"We hired lawyers from Clare Locke LLP, the country's top defamation law firm, and they have identified deliberate lies and distortions in The Verge's reporting," she said.
News of Korey's comeback and the company's plan to work with lawyers was first reported by The New York Times early Monday morning.
A spokesperson for The Verge did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but the company said in a statement to The Times: "Steph Korey responding to our reporting by saying her behavior and comments were 'wrong, plain and simple' and then choosing to step down as CEO speaks for itself."
In her message to employees, Korey confirmed that she will be sharing the CEO duties with the newly hired former Lululemon executive, Stuart Haselden. A spokesperson for Away sent Business Insider the Slack message on Monday.
Read the message to employees below:
Hi @everyone!
As we welcome Stuart to Away and kick off a pivotal year, I'm excited to share the leadership plan we're implementing to position the company for continued growth and success. We recognize that our transition announcement in December created more questions than answers and know that clarity in how @jen, @Stuart, and I will operate as leaders is essential to the company's success and important to how you conduct your jobs on a daily basis.
The inaccurate reporting that was published in December about our company unleashed a social media mob-not just on me, but also on many of you. In an attempt to protect the company, we announced something that had been planned for a bit further into the future: that Stuart would join as CEO and that I would move into a new role as Executive Chairman, intended as an active leadership role alongside Jen and Stuart. Unfortunately, this was misinterpreted in the media as me leaving Away, and has caused more confusion than clarity (both internally and externally). So, let me clear that up: I am not leaving the company.
Over the last few weeks, we've all had the opportunity to reflect on what transpired. We hired lawyers from Clare Locke LLP, the country's top defamation law firm, and they have identified deliberate lies and distortions in The Verge's reporting. We will be making a decision about our legal options after The Verge responds fully to our demands for retractions and corrections. In addition, I think it's important to stress that while the Verge reporting fundamentally misrepresented our company, we, like any company, can always be improving ourselves through building an even stronger culture. As you know from our robust discussions around our people and culture roadmap, we have many things in the works to continually improve the ways we communicate and work with each other, and I'm excited for those to come to life.
I remain as committed as ever to my active role in the day-to-day operations of the company. Reflecting that commitment, I will serve as the company's co-CEO alongside Stuart. This is the exact working arrangement Stuart, Jen, and I had envisioned when we announced he was joining, but the shift in titles will hopefully add more clarity for all of you as well as for our external partners. The three of us are excited by the opportunity to work closely together as Stuart learns the unique intricacies of our business.
We will divide the business into eleven business areas, with each of us overseeing the areas where we can uniquely add the most value:
Jen
Product Design
New Categories
Steph
Legal
Merchandising
Jen & Steph together
Marketing (including Acquisition, Brand, Creative, Customer & Community, Communications & Corporate Affairs, Partnerships, Product Marketing, Retention)
Stuart
Digital & Technology
Finance, Data, and Strategy
International
People & Culture
Retail
Supply Chain
We will be working completely in tandem as we lead the business through this next phase. Similarly to how Jen and I have worked together since the company's inception, we will each manage the areas of the business we oversee fairly independently, but will share and align with each other on any major decisions. And we'll work in partnership with all of you to execute on our plans and continue to build this great company.
2020 is set up to be a big year for the company. The leadership transition plan that begins this week is intended to help ensure that everyone at Away has the clarity and context they need to thrive in their role. We have meaningful, exciting work ahead of us, and Stuart's world-class expertise and leadership, combined with the context and vision that Jen and I have as founders, will be critical to bring our plans to life.
Sometimes, it's hard to believe what this team has built in less than five years. Your tireless passion for creating a community, products, and experiences centered around our customers is what's at the core of our success, and it's laid an incredible foundation for what's to come. I am so invigorated and inspired for the future of Away and of this team: we are more in it together than ever, and I couldn't be prouder."