Jennifer Sey: Why Did Levi’s Brand President Quit?

Jennifer Sey, the Chief Marketer of San Francisco-based apparel company, Levi Strauss, has resigned from her position, claiming she was forced out after voicing her opinion that schools should remain open during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sey, who is a 20-year veteran of Levi’s, has been global brand president since 2020.

She claims the company’s CEO, Chip Bergh, offered her a $1 million severance package in exchange for her signature on a nondisclosure agreement.

Sey started as an assistant marketing manager in 1999. During her two decades at the brand, Sey always felt encouraged to bring her full self to work, including her political advocacy; but when she publicly questioned pandemic-related school closures on the news and social media, Levi’s legal, human resources, and communications teams pressured her to be less vocal.

Despite pushback, Sey says she urged Levi’s to speak out on school closures, noting that the company has a history of addressing political issues that affect its employees, including gay rights, voting rights and immigration.

Sey says the issue led Levi’s employees to call her “anti-trans,” “anti-fat” and “racist.”

She claims she was asked to go on an “apology tour”, which she refused to do, and claims that CEO Bergh told her that she was on track to become the next CEO if only she would “stop talking about the school thing.”

Sey has historically spoken out on a number of hot-button topics but Sey and Levi haven’t always been at odds.

In 2018 she helped the brand take a stand against gun violence in the U.S.—the same year Forbes named her to its inaugural CMO Next list—and last year she worked on the company’s collaboration with Naomi Osaka, telling the New York Times in May that the tennis star has “such a powerful voice, the way she’s encouraging others to speak out about equality.”