The legal battle between former Bergdorf Goodman chief merchant Yumi Shin and Saks Global continues to rage on, with new twists and turns emerging over the past week.
Court papers reveal that Shin is attempting to get the case against her dismissed, and that she is arguing that trying the case in a federal court in Texas violates her rights.
Meanwhile, Saks Global wants to have information on its acquisition of the Neiman Marcus Group contained in Shin’s court papers redacted.
Last week Shin filed court papers seeking to dismiss Saks Global’s lawsuit attempting to block her from joining Nordstrom Inc. Saks, in its federal lawsuit filed in November, alleges that Shin violated her noncompete agreement, and stole proprietary information. It’s unclear precisely what proprietary information was allegedly stolen, whether it centered on data involving vendors, or information on the acquisition. Shin had been the chief merchandising officer at Bergdorf Goodman since January 2019 until leaving in October 2025 with expectations of joining Nordstrom.
In the latest maneuver in the legal squabble, Saks Global on Tuesday filed court papers seeking to have certain information redacted from Shin’s legal filings, contending that it’s confidential, non-public business information regarding the merger between Saks Global and the Neiman Marcus Group, including details relating to the merger’s funding and terms. Saks Global in December 2024 announced that it purchased the Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7 billion.
“Saks seeks to seal the materials in the least restrictive method possible by redacting only the portions of these documents that contain the most sensitive and confidential information,” according to court papers.
Saks Global, the parent of Bergdorf’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th and Neiman Marcus, is also seeking damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs at trial.
Nordstrom had been hoping that Shin would be able to join the Seattle-based company soon, but the legal squabble is delaying the timing. Sometimes, when there is an issue over a non-compete restricting an executive from taking a new job within a certain period of time, the parties involved reach an agreement or financial settlement to expedite the individual’s employment. Nordstrom has yet to comment on the situation.
According to court papers, Shin, in her attempt to dismiss the case against her, argues that the court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction would not “comport with fair play and substantial justice” and would violate her due process rights because she lacks the requisite “minimum contacts” in Texas. But Saks argues back that Shin is disregarding the effect of a forum selection clause in her restrictive covenant agreement (RCA) with the Neiman Marcus Group, and that any inconveniences or financial burdens incurred by Shin, who lives in New York, do not deprive her of her “day in court” and “is not enough to make a reasonable forum selection clause unenforceable.”
Shin also argues the RCA is too narrow in scope to encompass any of Saks’ claims against her beyond breach of the RCA. But Saks argues back that the Texas court has jurisdiction with regard to all of Saks’ claims, which include stealing proprietary data, “because they all arise from a common nucleus of facts.”
Before becoming BG’s chief merchandising officer, Shin was the store’s executive buying director from October 2018 until January 2019. Before that she was at Saks Fifth Avenue in the role of senior vice president and general merchandise manager for women’s designer ready-to-wear, handbags and accessories. Before that she was Saks’ senior vice president and general merchandise manager and chief site merchant for the Saks e-commerce website. Earlier in her career she worked at Prada as a divisional merchandise manager, and prior to that, she was a buyer at Barneys New York.
At Bergdorf’s, Shin was credited with launching BG Radar, a platform designed to identify and mentor emerging talent. She was also a founding member of the NMG ESG steering committee, and a proponent of sustainability.
Her departure from Bergdorf’s was just one of several high-level executive changes that in the past few months have beset Saks Global, as the retail conglomerate attempts to navigate through hemorrhaging relationships with vendors, unpaid bills, negative sales trends and integrating the operations and systems at NMG into Saks Global. A large interest payment on debt is due at the end of December.
Among the recent departures, Emily Essner, president and chief commercial officer who left last October, along with Bill Bine, who was chief transformation officer for Saks Global, and Rob Brooks, the chief operating officer for Saks Global, who accepted another job within the technology industry. Also at that time, Kim Miller, president of the Saks Off 5th off-price division, was named chief customer officer, a new role. Paolo Riva, chief brand partnerships and buying officer for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman’s; Miller, and Marc Metrick, chief executive officer of Saks Global, took on certain of the responsibilities previously held by Essner.
