TikToker Kiara Barnett (@celebertey_taylor) says she was fired from Red Lobster for having dyed hair, despite the fact that she was hired while rocking the same hair color during her first interview with the food chain.
In a viral TikTok, Barnett says a new general manager told her she would have to dye her hair a “natural color” if she wanted to continue working there, so the server decided to record their interaction and upload it to the platform.
@celebertey_taylor I’ve been working here since October/November and nobody has ever had a problem with my hair color and on her first day she tells me if I wanna work there I’m gotta change my hair color
♬ Boy's a liar Pt. 2 – PinkPantheress & Ice Spice
Barnett records the general manager as she speaks to her on camera. A text overlay in the clip reads, “POV: you’re job gets a new gm and on her first day she says you can’t there bc of my hair color.”
She says to the manager, “Hair color? You’re gonna have no workers. You’re running this, you came in here today and this is how you’re treating all your workers? You’re gonna have no fucking workers.”
The manager stands by with her hands folded in front of her, before saying, “I’m very sorry if you feel I’m disrespecting you. I do.”
The TikToker continues, “I really do because my hair color has nothing to do with how I work and if I can work in a professional place. This is Red Lobster, you know that? This is not nothing fine dining, nothing like that. You know that?”
It appears that Barnett’s use of the word “fucking” wasn’t appreciated by the manager, because at this point in their conversation, she says, “you’re getting inappropriate I’m gonna ask you to leave.”
“I wasn’t even yelling at you I was talking,” the Red Lobster employee states before the video cuts out.
@celebertey_taylor Replying to @familymanzella #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Kiaraaa
In a follow-up video, she explains the incident that led to her recording and replied to one user who seemingly defended the manager for enforcing a dress code policy.
According to Barnett, she had been working at the Red Lobster location since October 2022, adding that she was wearing a red wig to the job interview that landed her a position at the restaurant.
“At my interview, I was never informed that we weren’t allowed to have ‘unnatural’ hair colors, and since I’ve been working there for so long, the old GM, he’s seen my hair obviously and so has the district manager,” she says. “He’s seen my hair, has never said anything about it, but the day that this GM starts she says that I have to dye my hair a natural color if I want to work there.”
The video then transitions to her showing a placard that allegedly delineates the dress code for employees at her Red Lobster location.
“By the hair section, it says clean and neat, hair longer than shoulder length must be tied back,” she explains. “Nowhere in there does it say that you can’t have colored or dyed hair, whatever.”
It seems that other commenters may have mentioned something about Barnett’s long nails, which she also addressed, stating, “I mean I’m a server I guess I’m in the food industry, but like really, I just be putting plates on tables and bringing out drinks so like is it that deep?”
She adds that the “point” of her video wasn’t that she was getting upset over the fact she was getting fired, but that she was ultimately losing her job because of the color of her hair. She says it was never a problem in the past.
“Bitch, it’s a hair color. It’s 2023,” she says.
Barnett continues, “Cuss words are just words to express yourself and I was very frustrated in that moment it’s not illegal to curse, I was using my freedom of speech.”
She says she did follow up with Red Lobster’s corporate offices to discuss her firing and mentioned that the chain said the manager was in the wrong for firing her for her hair color, and that she’s going to be re-hired. According to her, she was told she needs to get in touch with her district manager to do so.
“I’m gonna talk to him and go from there,” she says.
However, in a few follow-up TikToks, it seems Barnett found a new job the next day. In her latest update, she says how her district manager, Andrew, claimed that he was under the impression employees weren’t allowed to have “extreme hair colors.”
“So, if you were aware of this rule, why was I never told about it until [the new manager’s] first day?” Barnett says she asked him. “You’ve seen my hair before.”
The TikToker says Andrew replied that he either had never seen hair her before, or he needed to “pay more attention.”
“As a district manager, you would think it would be your job to keep up to date with those policies,” Barnett says.
She once again describes how the manager was upset at her for using the word “fucking.” Though Barnett continues to defend her use of the word in the clip, she claims the moment she used it, she knew she was “no longer employed.”
@celebertey_taylor Replying to @ellieisenough #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Kiaraaa
The Daily Dot has reached out to Barnett via TikTok comment and Red Lobster via email.
The seafood chain’s dress code, according to Zippia, says nothing about dyed or colored hair, stating, “The dress code for Red Lobster restaurant staff is black pants with a short sleeve company-provided shirt and a white apron. Employees are required to wear black non-slip shoes. Name tags must be visible on your apron at all times. Long hair must be pulled back while on duty. Visible tattoos are allowed as long as they are tasteful. If tattoos are considered vulgar, inappropriate, or offensive, they will be required to be covered while on duty.”
Viewers seemed divided on the interaction. Some defended Kiara, stating that it doesn’t matter whether she decided to use a swear word around another adult, even if it was at work because the manager was reprimanding her for attempting to enforce a non-existent company policy.
“What’s even crazier is people are defending that woman because you cursed they are part of the problem,” one TikToker wrote.
Another penned, “I don’t know a single person who has gone to red lobster and been like ‘OMG DYED HAIR? Im LEAVING’ it ain’t that big of deal anymore.”
“Going in record here as a customer of red lobster and I don’t care what color hair, how many piercings, or how many tattoos. I care about service,” someone else said.
One user thought there was another reason the manager was isolating her, writing, “It’s cause ur young and cute she’s mad.”
However, others mentioned that even though it was good Barnett stood up for herself, they claimed she went about the whole thing incorrectly.
As one user wrote, “I’m all for standing up for yourself but there’s a way to do it. You’ll get more respect and be heard. Now all HR will hear is disgruntled.”
