I used to work for Eva Chen’s brother…

As many of you might not know, Eva Chen has a brother (J) that runs a jewelry wholesale company out of his home in Brooklyn. The company or the trade was learned from their father. He also has a wife (L) that runs the company with him. I worked for them for 5 weeks and never went back.

J only has 3 permanent employees. An office manager who is really just his dog sitter for when he and his wife are out of town as well as two women who make a 2 hr commute daily to his 8am call time. They are the jewelry makers and are put to work in either the basement of their home or the garage, neither equipped with AC or heat during the harsh weather months.

J only hires (or only can hire) college students who are looking to make a little money over breaks like winter, summer, or spring. His employee retention rate is close to 0%. The hours are grueling, 8am-6pm. You also must report to the office 15 minutes earlier or you are considered “late.” The attitude and passive aggressiveness you receive if you arrive even 1 minute later was endless. In the winter months, you would not get to see daylight.

He starts his base pay as low as $12 per hour sometimes, insisting that his pay will go up every week. However, by every week, he meant every 6 work days and sometimes did not call you in for the week.

He calls the beginning period “training” which is truthfully only a tactic for him to employ cheap labor. His idea of training is to have the guys carry and sort out their stock downstairs in the basement, build office chairs, and lay bathroom floor tiles. The girls “have it easy” and sort/count jewelry in the garage or do mindless data/sale work upstairs. Bear in mind, these training days came with no breaks or even a place to sit. If you were seen as good with the physical labor, you were kept in the garage for the entire duration of the “employment.”

His payment is always made under the table. It is also always dated weeks or months after the work you were being compensated for occurred. You will be cashing checks and receiving money $200 at a time, months at a time. You are forced to keep in contact with him and inform him when you cash the checks to get it approved. Sometimes checks bounced due to an “unreliable” source (according to the banks.) The reason for this is unknown. It seems like, however, J owes everyone money. He is constantly on the phone talking to people and speaking about delayed payments and paying at a later time. He doesn’t seem to have an accountant either, having witnessed him making some 18 yr olds organize and dispute his transaction history for him.

There is no talking allowed during the work hours. No one is allowed to speak to each other unless it is about work related things. When J is not there, he listens through the cameras. No phones are allowed, all employees are required to store their phones downstairs. If not, they were fired. One time, while an employee was not at the desk, J picked up her phone and read through her notifications out loud. The employee was subsequently let go. No humming to the background music is allowed. No laughing or giggling or it means you are not paying attention during work.

Their dog runs freely throughout the floor, no matter what time of day it is. Occasionally, J has the workers watch the dog for him while he runs errands. In one instance, the dog had an accident and an employee was made to clean it up.

If you call out, trust you will be talked about by his wife and himself. An employee was called a b*tch by his wife L in front of everyone at the office. You would be deemed “unprofessional,” despite J and L being the most unprofessional people ever to exist. Reminder, J and L are in their 40s and these “employees”range from 16-22.

J and L are also constantly fighting with each other in front of their employees. There is not a week that goes by without a screaming match between the two. Not to mention, they bond over their joint transphobia for a buyer.

J talked about Eva ONCE. It was to mention how her kids went to a Taylor Swift concert. He continued to go on a rant about how he doesn’t get it and how their parents went along as well.

Working for these people was a living nightmare. Seeing how L is close with Eva and follows her on instagram, Eva must have some clue as to her brother and SIL’s business practices.