Plum Announces Company-Wide Layoffs; Impact in Hamptons Unsure

Plum TV, a luxury lifestyle TV channel and magazine publisher with offices in several high-end locations from Nantucket to Aspen to Bridgehampton, has reduced its workstaff and is currently under investigation by the New York State Department of Labor.

“It’s a very competitive environment, and Plum, in order to save the brand and rebuild it, they announced a significant staff reduction which is system-wide,” said Robbie Vorhaus, a spokesman for Plum.

Vorhaus declined to state what the immediate effect would be on the Bridgehampton office, where phone calls were not picked up.

Vorhaus, a crisis consultant based in Sag Harbor, declined to state how many Plum employees company-wide lost their job last week, though it was widely reported that 50 employees were let go. Vorhaus said the channel will remain on the air through the fall.

Meanwhile, DOL attorneys are looking into the company's unemployment insurance practices. Unemployment insurance is paid by businesses to the DOL, which in turn is paid out to benefit laid off employees throughout the economy.

“Plum’s attorneys are working with the labor department’s attorneys to get a better understanding of what the investigation is looking for and Plum is cooperating fully,” Vorhaus said.

A FOIL request to the Department of Labor for documents relating to the investigation was denied Thursday morning. The request was denied because the records are being used for a law enforcement investigation and, if disclosed, could affect it, according to a copy of the DOL's response.

Vorhaus also would not share the total number of employees who currently work in Plum’s Bridgehampton office. Seasonal and part-time workers set the number continually in flux, he said.

The company launched a monthly magazine this year, Plum Hamptons, and plans to continue publication next year, Vorhaus said. Plum also publishes Plum Miami.

Vorhaus declined to comment on the finances of the private company, which also works in markets including Vail, Telluride, Sun Valley and Miami Beacn, and Martha's Vineyard.