After the company laid off 900 people via Zoom, 3 executives resign

Days after the CEO of Better.com unceremoniously fired 900 people via Zoom, several executives are handing out their resignation letters.

Three of the company’s top communications executives — Tanya Gillogley, head of public relations, Melanie Hahn, head of public relations, and Patrick Lenihan, vice president of communications — all have resigned, according to various media reports.

According to LinkedIn, Hahn started at Better.com in 2018. Gillogley joined in January 2019 and Lenihan started in November 2020.

The layoffs follow last week’s mass layoff, when CEO Vishal Garg used a one-way Zoom webinar to lay off about 9% of the company’s staff.

“If you’re on this call, you’re part of the unlucky group being fired,” Garg said in the call. “Your employment here is terminated with immediate effect.”

Since the call last week, Better.com and Garg have received widespread public reaction to the timing and treatment of layoffs.

Christian Chapman, a former Better.com subscriber, told CNN Business that the Zoom call was a “surreal moment”, and described the situation as “dull and cold”.

In a December 7 letter addressed to the Better.com team, Garg apologized for the way he handled layoffs, making “a difficult situation even worse.”

“I have not shown due respect and appreciation for the individuals who have been affected and for their contributions to Better,” says the letter to terminated employees. “I’m responsible for the decision to make the layoffs, but when I communicated it, the execution was wrong. By doing this, I shamed you.”

In the call, Garg cited market efficiency, performance and productivity as the reason behind the layoffs. Fortune later reported that Garg accused fired employees of “stealing” from colleagues and customers because they were unproductive and worked two hours a day.

CNN’s Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.

*(Translated text. Click here to read the original, in English)