Condé Nast and Union Reach Settlement Over “Fired Four”
It was a march on the boss, a typical union tactic used to pressure management, this time with unusual consequences. On Nov. 5, 2025, a group of NewsGuild of New York union members confronted the chief people officer of publishing giant Condé Nast outside his offices in One World Trade Center about recent layoffs and changes to Teen Vogue. A tense exchange ensued, with the executive trying to leave the conversation as union members pressed him to engage — at least some of it captured on video and later leaked to the media. The next day, four union members — Bon Appétit’s Alma Avalle, Condé Nast Entertainment’s Ben Dewey, Wired’s Jake Lahut and The New Yorker’s Jasper Lo — were fired and five more union members were suspended for conduct that “violated company policies” and “behavior that crosses the line into targeted harassment and disruption of business operations” according to the company. The union, in turn, deemed the firings illegal and began advocating on behalf of the terminated staffers, calling them “the Fired Four.” Now, …
