Agnes Chapski has filed a lawsuit against Cosmetic Executive Women and four of its top executives.
The suit, filed last month, alleges that CEW, a membership-based networking group for professional women in the beauty industry, wrongfully terminated Chapski from her position as its executive vice president, business strategy and growth officer, a position she held since November 2023. Prior to that she was a consultant to CEW.
As well as the CEW itself, the organization’s president Carlotta Jacobson, chief operating and financial officer Claudia Flowers, vice chairwoman Heidi Manheimer and chairwoman Jill Scalamandre were named as defendants in the suit.
(Jenny B. Fine, executive editor of beauty at WWD and editor in chief of Beauty Inc, is a member of CEW’s board and has recused herself from this story. WWD is a sponsor of CEW.)
Chapski, a beauty media veteran with 18 years under her belt at Condé Nast, claimed in the suit that her dismissal on May 13 via video call was in retaliation for having disclosed to her supervisor, Jacobson, and to Manheimer certain activities and practices of CEW that Chapski believed were in violation of law, rules and/or regulations, and objecting to and refusing to participate in such practices.
She also alleged in the suit that prior to her dismissal, it had been agreed that starting July 1, 2024, Chapski would formally begin the transition to take over Jacobson’s day-to-day responsibilities to succeed Jacobson as president, with the expectation that by the end of the year, Jacobson would retire. As a result of this, Chapski said she wound down her consulting business.
Chapski is seeking damages for the forgoing as well as for breach of contract and misclassification pursuant to the New York Labor Law and the Fair Labor Standards Act, plus interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.
Chapski claimed that despite her publicly announced role of executive vice president, business strategy and growth officer, and salary to be paid at an annual rate of $509,600 through June 30, 2024, and job responsibilities, CEW continued to misclassify her as an independent contractor, in violation of the NYLL and the FLSA. At the same time, CEW misrepresented to the board that Chapski was being paid as an employee.
“By misclassifying Chapski as an independent contractor, defendants denied her benefits afforded to employees, including but not limited to Social Security contributions, unemployment, workers’ compensation, Medicare tax payments, and health care coverage,” the suit alleged.
The suit also claimed that among other financial improprieties, Flowers revealed to Chapski that Jacobson, who has been in her position for 40 years, “had directed CEW over the years to conceal her salary of over $500,000 in order to misrepresent her income so she could remain in her income-restricted, rent-controlled apartment on the Upper East Side.”
Chapski alleged that she also objected to unlawful employment actions demanded by Jacobson. For example, Chapski claimed in the suit that she refused to terminate people targeted by Jacobson for unlawful reasons.
According to the suit, on April 24, Chapski reached out to Manheimer to report her concerns about Jacobson, including the fiscal mismanagement of CEW that Jacobson allegedly fostered. Chapski, the suit said, disclosed concerns regarding, among other things, “violation of the bylaws, a lack of departmental budgetary accountability, a lack of organizational fiscal responsibility, budgetary sleight-of-hand with inaccurate projections, and Jacobson’s self-serving actions that were contrary to the best interests of CEW, in violation of laws, rules, and regulations.”
During the video call when Chapski was dismissed, the suit claimed Jacobson said, “I had every intention of having you as my successor, but I think we both know that’s not going to happen” and therefore, Jacobson said, “I think we have to separate.”
Since then, the suit alleged defendants’ retaliatory action has continued in the form of attempts to force Chapski out of her foundation board seat, for which she has paid, and to harm her reputation through statements made to CEW staff and board members.
Valerie Ferrier, a lawyer representing Chapski, told WWD: “It’s disappointing to see how an organization that was created to empower and uplift women has treated an employee.”
A representative for CEW declined to comment.
