Broke axed Vice staff want their severance and expenses paid now.

Former staff have taken to shaming Shane Smith on his Instagram account in hopes of getting paid.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Former Vice Media staff are sharing their financial struggles as they continue a months-long wait to get reimbursed for thousands of dollars in expenses and promised severance checks. A group of one hundred or so Vice News staff who were axed in the run-up to the Vice bankruptcy in May have been scouring Stretto, an online legal notices service, for any news of whether they’ll ever see the promised cash again. 

One recently laid-off staffer told The Media Mix,  “I don’t know if I can make the mortgage payments. I don’t have a steady income at all. The job prospects are not there, my whole life has had to change. I’m rethinking travel, even family things. There’s a couple of weeks where I can’t pay for camp or childcare.”

Another former editorial staffer has been hammering Vice Media’s chief people officer, Daisy Auger-Dominguez, for answers. This second frustrated worker said he emailed an estimated fifty times looking for his expenses check but was admonished for being too aggressive and was told that communications would cease if he emailed, “disrespectfully.” 

This person told The Media Mix that he had paid-out thousands of dollars in excess bag fees to airlines to carry equipment for filming assignments for Vice all over the US. His questions about receiving what’s owed (plus the interest) have been mostly met with silence or requests for bank details, leading him to reach out directly to Smith via Instagram.  This ex-staffer’s comment telling Smith, “You got greedy” was deleted. 

The first former Vice journalist wanted to remain anonymous because this person had signed an agreement not to disparage the company, but added that Vice should have warned staff not to dip into their own pockets as the bankruptcy filing became increasingly likely. Instead staff worked harder than ever to prove their worth, this person said. 

Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc left the company in February, after five years in the role. Dubuc sounded a somewhat optimistic note in an email on her departure. “We reduced overhead by half and yet improved the quality of our revenues through both increased profitability and growth of returning revenues. As we face new headwinds in the marketplace Vice is now less ad dependent, and our gross margins have more than doubled.”

Staff were sent a message this week saying that the company couldn’t issue severance for the end of the month pay cycle because it did not have court approval. Vice has also shared with laid-off staff that there will be a $15,100 cap on what’s owed. That’s got people riled since severance would have been two or three times that amount for some.

Vice wrote up severance agreements in late April promising to pay staff big lump sums just days before news articles started appearing warning of a potential bankruptcy filing.  One ex-staffer wonders if Vice knew then it wouldn’t be able to pay-up agreed amounts.

“There is no reason Vice can’t pay the full severance,” a third person said in a private group chat, shared with The Media Mix. “There is no excuse not to, and crying poor is not going to cut it when they paid executive bonuses in April.” A fourth former Vice executive said that some people had received expenses payments while others hadn’t.

An internal executive told The Media Mix that severance has been delayed by the bankruptcy proceedings but the company is working with all parties to pay it as quickly as possible. 

The courts approved a take-over plan last week with Fortress Investments, founded by billionaire Wes Edens. Fortress is spearheading the consortium which won the Vice Media auction.  The group is in the process of taking possession and plans to retain Vice’s current co-CEOs, Hozefa Lokhandwala and Bruce Dixon, as well as Vice co-founder Shane Smith. 

The consortium submitted a credit bid of $350 million for the TV, film and online news producer. Also part of the Fortress led consortium is George Soros founded Soros Fund Management, which also invested in podcast producer Crooked Media run by former Vice Media’s chief legal officer, Lucinda Treat.

Another bidder GoDigital Media Group had also submitted an offer for Vice. That offer was turned down by the court, prompting GoDigital to share its disappointment in a long public statement. Part of that statement read: “In our opinion, a continuation of the leadership that was a part of Vice’s journey to bankruptcy runs directly counter to the integrity and accountability now demanded in business. We think Fortress’s decision is the wrong choice, and the company, employees, partners and consumers will suffer.” 

Vice lost another executive last week. Geoff Schiller, the company’s global EVP, commercial and sales strategy is joining Vox Media, according to Axios’ Sara Fischer. He had been with Vice for just ten months before his exit.