What to know
- Employees allege passive-aggressive behaviour and public reprimands from a manager.
- Some customers also posted reviews describing tense interactions and concerns about staff treatment.
- Several workers were allegedly dismissed just before the end of their probation, and days before Black Friday, with little explanation.
- Former staff say the timing left co-workers devastated heading into the holidays, while Simons says it cannot comment on confidential HR matters.
Former employees of the newly-opened Simons location at Toronto’s Eaton Centre are speaking out after the retailer allegedly carried out a series of layoffs ahead of Black Friday.
A former worker, who identified herself as Shelina for privacy reasons, was first hired for her part-time position at the new Simons store on Aug. 28, right before the store officially opened on Sep. 18.
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At first, Shelina told Now Toronto the work experience seemed great, with the company even hosting a staff event before opening to welcome the new employees.
“The company itself painted such a good picture, like ‘We care about our employees, we love our employees, we care about you guys first,’” she said.
“When I was sitting there listening to each of them speak. I thought [my manager] was actually the nicest. And I remember telling one of my friends, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s so nice. I’m so happy she’s our manager.’”
But after the store opened, Shelina said things quickly changed. According to her, her manager often came off as “passive-aggressive,” including being harsh towards staff in front of customers.
“There were times where she yelled at us in front of a customer, or made us feel uncomfortable, and then she would bring us to her office or whatever, and then just sit there and kind of give us more,” she said.
“It wasn’t her advice, what she was saying wasn’t something normal people would get from managers. It was just the tone was always off, the word choices were just very disrespectful. And I’ve personally seen her even yell at other supervisors in front of us.”
Google reviews about the store that date back to September have a few comments from customers about the same manager, according to Shelina.
“I was in the vicinity and overheard [the manager] being really rude to the employees. When she saw me looking, she glared at me and it made me feel uncomfortable so I left that area. To see the visible passive aggressiveness in a ‘reputable’ workplace in 2025 is mind blowing,” one reviewer wrote.
“On Monday Sep. 22 I saw this lady…being very rude to a customer. I believe she’s up there, probably a manager or so. She was so rude to this customer and me and my mom felt uncomfortable shopping here. Later, I saw that same lady bossing around her employees with a rude attitude,” a different person wrote.
Another employee who was laid off, and identified as Krista, tells Now Toronto that managers’ word choices towards staff made her uncomfortable.
“As a person of colour, I never liked when a certain manager would address me as ‘girl’ and there would be a huge emphasis and exaggeration on the word,” she said in a written statement.
“If it wasn’t for the customers, which I love catering to and the few co-workers that I had in my corner, I don’t know how I would get through shifts.”
LAYOFFS BEFORE HOLIDAYS
A month after the store opening, the former employees say the store also had a 30-day performance review, in which they received feedback about their work.
Shelina says she received criticism for her performance, which she later worked on, and was told by managers she had improved. Both employees said managers initially promised to also carry out a 60-day and 90-day review, both of which never happened.
Nevertheless, shortly before Black Friday, and before the end of their probation period, the two employees were fired by the retailer, with no significant feedback beyond “unsuccessful probation period.”
“[In] my 30-day [review], I did have some things to work on, but I did take initiative to work on it. And I remember doing several tasks for different supervisors and managers who confirmed with me that I was doing good. So, that’s what I asked when she called me… ‘Can I know what the reason is? And she was like, ‘Oh, no, it’s just a decision we all made,’” Shelina said.
“I understand that we’re not done [with] our probation, so technically they don’t have to give a reason. But it just is so crazy, like the amount of people they fired in the span of two, three weeks. [It] was just very surprising.”
Krista says she’s frustrated with the lack of feedback before she was let go.
“Everyday, I would go in and the management/area directors are smiling in my face, not saying a word, and here I am thinking that I am perfectly fine,” she said.
“They sold us a dream of ‘there is opportunity for growth within the company…’ Then on top of that, they randomly lay me off,” she said.
Shelina said although the layoff didn’t greatly impact her, as she’s fortunate to have other jobs, it was a hard hit for many of her co-workers who were caught by surprise right before the holidays.
“Everybody else, I would say, excluding me, have been extremely devastated, because [the] majority of them actually depended on this job…Most of them are in school, so this was the job that they kind of depended on, even the full-timer that got fired, he also was dependent on this job.”
“It’s the busiest season in retail. So, companies are actually hiring people, right? Because they need the help. So, this is the opposite. It just seems very unfair and doesn’t make any sense.”
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SIMONS RESPONDS
A spokesperson for Simons says the retailer can’t comment on human resources issues, but highlights the company’s commitment to employees.
“Our employees are at the heart of the Simons service commitment. Human resources matters are confidential in nature, and we therefore cannot provide further information,” the spokesperson said in an email to Now Toronto on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Shelina says she wishes the company would listen to its former employees, and consider giving them compensation.
“I would appreciate it if they are able to hear our perspective and understand [that] this happened.”
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