"After Years of Championing Women, Gap Faces Backlash Over Pregnant Workers Fired in Haiti", 17 March 2026

When Marie was fired from a Haitian factory producing Old Navy clothing in July 2024, she was pregnant with her son, now 14 months old. Labor advocates describe the dismissal as a dual violation, breaching both Gap Inc.’s code of conduct barring pregnancy discrimination and Haitian law requiring ministry approval to dismiss expectant workers...

Three other pregnant employees, plus nine SOTA-BO union leaders—all women—were also let go that day...The factory was in the middle of shuttering two of its four production units, including hers, and laying off 900 workers...[Marie] and the other employees were summoned to HR, told to sign letters they barely scanned and handed a date to collect their severance.

...in signing those documents, Marie and her colleagues had inadvertently waived their right to transfer to still-operational parts of the factory. From her conversation with the manager, Marie believed she was merely acknowledging an involuntary termination...with no possibility of a future at The Willbes...

Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium...said the fired workers didn’t know what they were signing, resulting in a lack of transparency that he suggests was by design. By framing the departures as “resignations,” he added, the pregnant employees forfeited the maternity benefits to which they were legally entitled, including the equivalent of 12 weeks of paid leave...

“In addition to being ethically reprehensible, this behavior is illegal,” Nova said. “The workers are entitled to reinstatement and back pay. The factory has similarly mistreated a number of union leaders; they are also entitled to reinstatement and back pay.”

When WRC contacted Gap Inc., one of The Willbes’ anchor buyers, the brand sided with the factory, which asserted that it had offered the workers continued employment, but they had “chosen” dismissal instead. Nova described the claim as not only improbable but false, as determined through interviews. Better Work Haiti...also concurs with The Willbes’ version of events, though it has declined—or ”refused,” in Nova’s words—to make its auditor available for a WRC interview...

The impasse exposes another persistent tension in the garment industry: institutional trust in third-party audits that have been criticized for lacking accuracy or depth, versus the lived experiences of workers that those systems are meant to safeguard.

While The Willbes didn’t respond to a request for comment, a Gap Inc. spokesperson said the company—as a “responsible job creator in Haiti”—adheres to the standards and findings of the country’s Ministry of Labor and Better Work Haiti, which, together, “ensure worker rights are protected and international standards are met.”

In a statement, Better Work Haiti confirmed it monitored the closure of the facility in coordination with MAST. The organization said it reviewed the calculation of final payments for roughly 644 employees...and concluded that “workers and administrative staff received their legal entitlements.” Writing in its latest “Haiti synthesis” report, Better Work Haiti said records showed that 24 union members were offered reassignments within the company, but that nine chose not to accept.

“Guided by their recommendations, we ensured that The Willbes met all legal obligations and fully upheld the rights and protections entitled to their workers in Haiti,” the Gap Inc. spokesperson said. The retailer is now evaluating Better Work’s report and “will take all appropriate steps recommended within it.”

...Gap Inc. may have conducted an investigation, [Nova] said, but it didn’t interview affected workers. He cast doubt on Better Work Haiti’s credibility, calling its record “one of ineffectuality.” Most of all, standing by The Willbes, Gap Inc. is validating the supplier’s narrative that the workers engaged in a “conspiracy to resign and then falsely claim they were fired.”...

For Roseline...the factory’s red flags were already apparent before the layoffs began. Factory management, she said, regulated bathroom use by requiring supervisor approval to access the facilities. Workers arriving late were frequently locked out, only to be suspended the following day for “unexcused absences”...There was also insufficient drinking water, which, when provided, was “warm and barely drinkable.”

“I joined SOTA-BO because I did not like the way the factory was treating the workers and me personally...But things did not really change in the factory because the union was there. If anything, joining the union made you more of a target for discrimination. They would intentionally suspend the line that had union members whenever there was a shortage of work.”

Gap Inc...maintains that its oversight is robust, with a code of conduct that explicitly requires suppliers to respect the right of workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining, strictly prohibiting any “harassment, intimidation, or retaliation” against union members. Haitian law also forbids dismissing workers for union activities...

The allegations also sit at odds with Gap Inc.’s public-facing commitments to women’s empowerment...

Marie [has] since been offered her old job, but will only return to The Willbes if her back wages are restored...

So far, only one of the 13 dismissed workers has returned to The Willbes. None, however, has received the back pay they believe they’re owed...