New Jersey influencer Samiyah Gaddy sues Ebin New York for alleged racial discrimination and harassment

A local beauty influencer is suing popular Korean beauty brand Ebin New York for $10 million in damages over allegations of workplace discrimination, harassment and bullying, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit builds on a four-part viral story that Samiyah Gaddy posted on TikTok in April, in which Gaddy claimed she was the “only black woman in the company” at Ebin from August 2023 to January 2024 , when she was employed as a full-time social worker. associate in media marketing.

In the series – which has received a total of 4.3 million views – Gaddy claims she was wrongfully fired after filing a complaint with Ebin's human resources department that detailed a pattern of racist behavior by the CEO of the company, his direct superior and several colleagues.

Gaddy was forced to screen resumes for black-sounding names, she said, deliberately excluded from meetings with her Korean colleagues and forced to stay in substandard housing while traveling for work, among other alleged assaults .

“There is nothing real about Ebin New York,” the lawsuit says. “It’s aimed at black American women. Yet he refuses to allow black American women to have a seat at the table… (looting) the black community for its purchasing power, but (refusing) to empower the small number of black employees he employs .

Gaddy's story inspired black women to boycott Ebin's hair care products, bringing attention to deep-seated racial inequalities within the beauty industry.

A 2022 report from McKinsey & Co. found that Black women are responsible for $6.6 billion in beauty spending annually, but they are underrepresented at all levels in cosmetics companies, even after brands committed to improving diversity in hiring.

Sometimes these disparities trickle down to consumers: Makeup brand Youthforia came under fire after refusing to apologize for offering a jet-black foundation instead of increasing its shade range, while Tarte Cosmetics has received backlash for not inviting black influencers onto its notoriously luxurious brand. travel.

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Yet Gaddy believes the worst begins in the workplace.

“I'm bitter about corporate America,” Gaddy, who lives in Flemington, New Jersey, told The Inquirer. “They use us (black women) for our ideas and then make big money from it.”

Microaggressions, employment discrimination and retaliation

Gaddy's lawsuit describes Ebin — which was founded in 2014 by Korean CEO John Park to sell Black hair care products — as a “hostile work environment” that subjected Gaddy to “severe and pervasive racial harassment.”

Ebin New York is represented by the Philadelphia-based employment law firm Marshall Dennehey. The company “categorically denies all allegations,” according to a statement sent to The Inquirer. “We intend to vigorously defend these assertions in a court of law, not in a court of public opinion. »

They did not respond to requests about workplace demographics or the company's diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Gaddy said alarm bells started ringing when she went to a job interview last summer, assuming Ebin was a Black-owned business, only to learn that women The black women she had seen were contract workers hired to test products.

From that point on, Gaddy claims, she was ostracized because of her race.

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“I was going through this every day just to cry in the bathroom with my mom on the phone,” said Gaddy, who is represented by the law firm Lacy Employment Law in Philadelphia.

A week after she started, according to the lawsuit, Gaddy was left alone in the office while the rest of her department went on a business trip to New York that she was supposed to attend. Around the same time, Gaddy's team — including Park, the CEO — began speaking almost entirely in Korean around her “to ensure Gaddy couldn't contribute in the workplace.”

When Gaddy expressed his concerns about workplace culture to a co-worker, according to the lawsuit, he dismissed them by saying, “You won't understand, I'm Korean.” »

Later, Gaddy alleges that she was asked to review a resume to “see if the applicant had a 'black name'” and was criticized by her supervisor for refusing to follow up.

“They hire their own kind of people. So if their name sounds different…they want to know,” Gaddy said of Ebin. “I don’t know why else they would ask me that.”

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Things came to a head when Gaddy filed an HR complaint in November after he was forced to stay in a “budget hotel” with safety and hygiene issues while on a business trip to solo in Atlanta. A month later, according to the lawsuit, Gaddy received a warning for “insubordination.”

On January 12, Gaddy was officially fired for failing to meet key performance indicators. Gaddy, however, believes “she was actually fired in retaliation for her complaints of racial discrimination and harassment,” according to the lawsuit.

Gaddy has no regrets: “If I hadn't gone to HR, I would have let it happen. »

“Your value is less than minimum wage”

Gaddy told The Inquirer that the aftermath of his firing has been a mix of emotions. She feels vindicated by the hordes of comments validating her, but the whole experience was “very triggering.”

“I was very depressed. I’m still looking for therapy,” said Gaddy, who had to move back in with her mother after she was laid off.

Gaddy's presence on social media has not always been received positively.

After Gaddy informed his colleagues of his firing – but before making his story public – Gaddy's TikTok and Instagram were littered with comments from faceless accounts that used racist slurs while alluding to his firing, according to the lawsuit. She thinks Ebin hired someone to mess with her.

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“Your worth is less than minimum wage,” read one user’s comment, a screenshot of which was included in the lawsuit. Others encouraged Gaddy to “go flip burgers” and claimed she “can't keep a real job.”

Since going public, Gaddy said she has received nothing but positive messages from her former colleagues.

“They were so proud of me for speaking up for myself,” That made me feel better.

For now, Gaddy plans to continue talking on social media about his time in Ebin. She also hopes to spotlight more Black-owned businesses.

“At the end of the day, my word is the truth,” Gaddy said.