The Bay put an unconsenting lawyer's photo on its anti-racism fundraiser signs

In May 2021 Hudson's Bay launched Charter for Change, a 'social impact platform' promising $30 million over ten years to organizations advancing racial equity, framed as an update of the Royal Charter it had held since 1670. In early July, a friend of Toronto lawyer and anti-racism advocate Hadiya Roderique spotted Roderique's face on a counter-top donation sign in a Bay store and asked about her work for the company. Roderique had done none.

The photo, by Luis Mora, had been taken for Roderique's Globe and Mail essay 'Black on Bay Street' about being a Black woman in Canadian law. Neither she nor Mora had licensed it; his agency, KZM, says it never sold the image to The Bay and learned of the use only when CBC News called. The company said the image came 'from a photographer's website used as inspiration when developing the campaign' and 'did not get updated, as was intended, to reflect one of the participating Canadians'.

The Bay called the use a mistake, apologized publicly and said the photo had been removed from the campaign. Roderique said the company told her it was completely their error, assured her the signs were being pulled from stores, and noted that using the images of people of colour to raise funds for anti-racism work demands extra care that they consented and are compensated.

A public apology and pulled signage, landing on a $30M, 10-year racial-equity fundraiser that the blunder undercut.

A placeholder photo picked up from a photographer's website was meant to be swapped for a real campaign participant and went to print unswapped.

No one cleared rights with the subject, Hadiya Roderique, the photographer Luis Mora, or his agency KZM.

The blunder sat at the center of a racial-equity fundraiser, turning a goodwill campaign into a case study of the erasure it campaigned against.

A diversity campaign is judged by its own supply chain: clear the rights of every face and photo before it goes to print, not after.

The Bay tweeted 'This image was used by mistake - we deeply regret the error', said the photo had been removed, and told CBC it was reaching out to Roderique directly. Roderique confirmed the company didn't mince words about its own error and said she might ask for a financial contribution to a Black or Indigenous organization while weighing her next move. KZM Agency said it protects marginalized artists and would have required both the subject's approval and payment before licensing such an image.