The company that inspires us to “move, nourish, believe” is making headlines all over again. In a tell-all article, a Lorna Jane employee-turned-journalist is saying that the activewear label “used” her, a claim that Lorna Jane has bitten back at, calling the former staff member “an opportunist” who wants to benefit from founder Lorna Jane Clarkson’s success.
Courier Mail journalist Vanessa Croll posted an opinion piece dubbed “Lorna Jane, you used me” yesterday, revealing her experience as a personal trainer at one of Lorna’s gyms 10 years ago. She says that she was approached by Lorna to model for the brand, but only got paid $70 for her first 30-look shoot, and the images of her are still used to this day, an entire decade later. “When I see it all I feel is a sense of shameful vulnerability,” Vanessa wrote of seeing the photos.
Vanessa believes she was “taken for a ride” by Lorna, who she trained regularly and considered a friend, however, the brand has fought back guns (the metaphorical bicep kind) ablazing. After Lorna’s debatably transparent attempt to repair her company’s tarnished image (you might remember the controversial “fit model” ads and bullying claims), the brand has directly replied to the Courier Mail‘s Facebook share of Vanessa’s article.
'When I landed a job as a personal trainer for Lorna Jane, I was elated. I was even “lucky” enough to be used as her catalogue model. But it soon became clear I was being taken advantage of.'
Posted by Courier Mail on Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Basically the company claimed that Lorna was doing Vanessa a favour featuring her in the ad work, that she was acting as an "opportunist" and that concerns were never raised on Vanessa's behalf during employment and the 10 years which have followed it. It went a little summin' like this:
If we're going to walk away from this article and learn something, it's to always treat your employees with love and respect, because you never know which one of them might end up in media.
[Via Courier Mail]
