Jill Barad

Re “Beleaguered Mattel CEO Resigns as Profit Sinks,” Feb. 4: When a male CEO resigns due to poor performance of the company under his leadership there is no mention of what he wore to the office. And for some reason we don’t find out how many management-level women left during his tenure as CEO.

And yet, when Mattel CEO Jill Barad resigned we found out that she wore “Barbie-bright colors” and “accouterments such as fur collars and cuffs.” We also found out that her critics suggested the decline in the number of males in Mattel’s management ranks was because of “her inability to work with men.” What do businessmen wear when they come into the boardroom?

Do we even care what a man was wearing when his company performed poorly and he resigns? Why then was it important to mention when Barad resigned? Just curious.

CONSTANCE KRAMER

Burbank

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Under Barad’s leadership, Mattel lost $82 million in 1999. Barad rightfully resigned “under pressure” (i.e., she got the boot), but she will receive compensation of at least $24 million--five years’ pay--for her poor performance as the company’s CEO. How much compensation was earmarked for the 3,000 Mattel employees Barad decided to lay off last year? I’ll bet they did their jobs better than she did her job.

NICK DeBENEDETTO

Encino