Update: Jan. 7, 9:46 AM EST Wet Seal announced that it plans to close 338 stores and lay off about 3,695 full- and part-time employees.
Several former Wet Seal employees are exacting revenge on the retailer for its recent layoffs by sparking a protest on social media that has led to widespread bashing of the '90s brand.
A handwritten poster penned by ex-employees of a now-shuttered Seattle location soared to the top of Reddit on Monday. According to the sign, workers were cheated out of an aggregate 19 weeks of unpaid vacation and sick time, given one day to find new jobs and denied transfers to other Wet Seal locations in the area. This came after the company's now-departed CFO, Steven Benrubi, received a 10.5% raise in March 2013.
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The protest gave rise to the hashtags #ForgetWetSeal and #BoycottWetSeal.
I just love the tyranny of corporate giants, but let's not forget that this problem is incredibly widespread. #forgetwetseal— Jonathon Garrard (@JonathonGarrard) January 5, 2015
No employee deserves to be lied to and given no notice to find other employment. #boycottwetseal #forgetwetseal— Sailor Venus (@LegendofMandar) January 5, 2015
Wet Seal, which has reported sales declines in the last 11 out of 12 recent quarters, didn't acknowledge the incident on Twitter or Facebook. But its brand page was flooded with negative comments about the layoffs.
In December, the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that various factors "raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern." The company's stock price was at around $0.06 in trading on Monday.
The brand fell victim to the dot-com crash and its stock price never reached the post-$40 high it hit in 1999.
Reps from Wet Seal could not be reached for comment.