Condé Nast and Union Reach Settlement Over “Fired Four” (Exclusive)

The NewsGuild of New York and publishing giant Condé Nast have reached a settlement resolving a nearly six-month dispute over the disciplinary actions taken against nine union members.

Under the terms of the agreement, the termination status of three of the four fired employees—Alma Avalle of Bon Appétit, Ben Dewey of Condé Nast Entertainment, and Jasper Lo of The New Yorker—has been changed to allow them to resign as active employees. Each will receive nearly two years of pay alongside positive letters of recommendation.

The five suspended union members will receive backpay for the days they were suspended, and their disciplinary records will be erased. Neither Condé Nast nor the union admitted to any wrongdoing or liability as part of the deal.

The fourth terminated employee, former Wired staffer Jake Lahut, was a probationary worker at the time of the incident and was not covered by the union agreement's "Just Cause" protections. Lahut declined a lesser settlement offer and is pursuing an unfair labor practice charge against the company through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The dispute originated on November 5, 2025, when a group of union members confronted Condé Nast's chief people officer outside his office at One World Trade Center to discuss recent layoffs and operational changes at Teen Vogue. A video of the tense exchange was subsequently leaked to the media. The following day, Condé Nast fired the four employees and suspended five others, alleging that their behavior "violated company policies" and constituted "targeted harassment and disruption of business operations." The union countered that the firings were illegal.

In a statement, a Condé Nast spokesperson said, "we reached a mutual, amicable agreement so that all parties can move forward constructively. In doing so, neither party admits to any wrongdoing or liability."

Susan DeCarava, president of the NewsGuild of New York, described the settlement as a victory. DeCarava said Condé Nast "wanted to send a message that if you potentially step out of line according to some random boss’s assessment of what that means, that you could be fired." She added, "This outcome is a clear repudiation of that. It’s a repudiation of the idea that people’s right to take direct collective action isn’t protected under federal law. It clearly is."

Jasper Lo, a former fact-checker at The New Yorker, described his feelings regarding the settlement as "complicated."

"The company did something so egregious, but you can see from the terms of the settlement that they are admitting in so many ways that they’re shouldering the blame. They’re shouldering the blame as much as they’re willing to," Lo said. Lo plans to study Mandarin at the Middlebury Language Schools this summer while freelancing.

Avalle called the settlement "a win for the entirety of the Condé Nast Union, New Yorker Union, the NewsGuild and labor moment to say workers have a right to talk to their bosses as equals." She is currently running an independent literary magazine and intends to remain active in the union.

Lahut's legal action remains ongoing, a process he acknowledges could take significant time. "I’m prepared to wait months, years if I have to. I mean, I think that’s potentially realistic," Lahut said.

Lahut, who was one week away from completing his probationary status when he was terminated, is currently freelancing and working as a contract breaking news editor at Sherwood News. He recalled learning of his termination status after a staffer at MSNBC, where he was scheduled for a television appearance, informed him that Condé Nast had pulled him from the broadcast.

"I really don’t understand how standing in a hallway and asking questions is enough to merit what’s happened here," Lahut said.