MillerKnoll employee: Company threatening termination for speaking out about bonuses

MillerKnoll employee: Company threatening termination for speaking out about bonuses

ZEELAND — MillerKnoll employees were threatened with termination for speaking to media about controversial comments from the company's CEO that went viral this week.

That's according to an employee who was granted anonymity by The Sentinel to protect their job.

More: MillerKnoll CEO lands in hot water over employee bonus comments

"We have a meeting at the beginning of every shift," the employee wrote in a message Wednesday, April 19. "Last night the comments were brought up in the meeting and they said if anybody spoke out it wouldn't be good for them and they could be terminated."

Kris Marubio, a spokesperson for MillerKnoll, told The Sentinel on Wednesday that was false.

"The first thing I would say is nobody has been directed to do that," she said. "It's not a company policy, it's not something that we're doing. So, that's wrong and false."

The global furniture manufacturer's CEO Andi Owen found herself in hot water this week over comments she made during a Zoom call about employee bonuses.

zoom call from a ceo who cancelled all employee bonuses but took a $6.4 million bonus herself pic.twitter.com/SMZP6QQYCX — Warren Commission Test Skull (@conzmoleman) April 17, 2023

A clipped video recording, which went viral on Twitter, shows her responding to employee concerns about whether they'll receive bonuses based on company performance.

Owen starts out smiling and calm in the clip.

"The most important thing right now is to focus on the things we can control," she says. "None of us could have predicted COVID, none of us could have predicted supply chain, none of us could've predicted bank failures. But what we can do is stay in front of our customers."

"It's not good to be in the situation we're in today," she continues. "But we're not going to be here forever. It is going to get better. So lead — lead by example, treat people well, talk to them, be kind and get after it."

From there, Owen grows increasingly frustrated.

"Don't ask about, 'What are we gonna do if we don't get a bonus?' Get the damn $26 million. Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million we need and not thinking about what you're gonna do if we don't get a bonus, alright? Can I get some commitment for that?

"I had an old boss who said to me one time, 'You can visit Pity City, but you can't live there.' So people, leave Pity City. Let's get it done. Thank you. Have a great day."

According to an article from Fortune, Owen joined the company in 2018 after a long career at Gap. Most social media viewers of the video chided Owen for being tone-deaf to the needs of employees who make far less than she does.

"Owen, who describes herself as a 'defender of equity and inclusion' in her private Instagram account, receives the bulk of her pay package in incentive-based compensation, like most CEOs," reports Fortune. "For the fiscal year to May 2022, this amounted to $3.9 million which came on top of Owen’s $1.1 million in fixed salary."

Marubio told The Sentinel bonuses for this year have not been determined because the fiscal year doesn't end until May, and added Owen's bonus hasn't been determined, either.

"We all follow the same bonus determination," she said. "It happens after financial results are reported for the full year."

In a video the MillerKnoll employee shared with The Sentinel of the company's March Town Hall, workers are told order levels were down over the quarter across all areas of the business.

"And unfortunately, that reduced profit level has put a ton of pressure on our progress toward earning a bonus payout this year," employees are told. "So, we've got a lot of work to do in Q4 to turn that around."

Employees are told they're short about $26 million from the target number required to earn a minimum bonus payout.

"As a whole, corporate structure is parasitic in this way," the employee said. "The rich always get richer and the poor always get more poor. They have a $1.1 million salary and getting a 355 percent bonus. Yet she's denying us the sliver we get ... maybe 5 percent max on a $45,000 salary.

"I get that CEOs get astronomical bonuses but when/where does it stop?"

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During a morning meeting Wednesday, according to the employee, workers "grilled" a speaker over the viral comments but were told the speaker "doesn't understand that part of the business, so he can't speak to it."

"It definitely feels like they are playing with us and enjoying every minute," the employee said.

But officials at MillerKnoll want the public to know the original clip lacked context.

"Ninety seconds out of a 75-minute internal meeting where we talked about a lot of positive things at the company, product launches, brand campaigns, connecting with customers and business results, was leaked," Marubio said. "And on it's own it's misleading. It doesn't represent the full 75 minutes."

According to reporting from MLive, Owen issued a written apology to employees.

“I want to be transparent and empathetic, and as I continue to reflect on this instance, I feel terrible that my rallying cry seemed insensitive,” she wrote. “What I’d hoped would energize the team to meet a challenge we’ve met many times before landed in a way that I did not intend and for that I am sorry.

“Nothing will lessen the power and strength of our collective team. My appreciation for each of you is huge and I will continue to do everything I can to help us meet our shared goals. Thank you for your hard work, your grace, and for the commitment you show to one another and our company every single day.”

— Contact editor Cassandra Lybrink at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @CassLybrink.