A TikToker found herself out of work right before the holidays after her manager heard her talking about her own business on the clock—and the reaction online is divided.
On Thursday, Kendal (@ugcwithkendal) clued her followers into her concerns that she was about to be fired with a video in which she implored them to “come with me to get fired from work.”
“I work at a clothing store—I’m not going to say which one, but it rhymes with Baritzia,” she said, presumably referring to the Canadian-based fashion retailer Aritzia. “Manager asked me to come in today. I’m not scheduled, by the way. And my last shift, I got in trouble.”
Kendal explained she has a small business she runs online where she sells accessories, such as tights and jewelry. Sometimes she wears her own items into work and, she said, if customers compliment her and ask where she got them, she tells them.
“I’m really lowkey about it because I know how managers are,” she continued. “I don’t even talk about my business with my co-workers, ‘cause I feel like managers hate when you have a side hustle or even another job.”
Sure enough, she said her manager recently overheard her telling an Aritzia customer that her tights are from her own website and accused her of promoting her business on company time.
“For the record, I was not going into work promoting my business,” she said in another video. “If somebody wants to ask me where I got something from, I’m going to tell them.”
@ugcwithkendal Wish me luck guys😭 #fired #torontolifestyle #torontoootd #aritziahaul #eatoncentre ♬ original sound – UGC WITH KENDAL
On the one hand, it makes sense that a company wouldn’t want an employee promoting their own similar items for sale, potentially diverting customers away from an in-store purchase. But it also wouldn’t make much sense for Kendal to be asked by a customer where she got something she was wearing and for her to simply shut them down and refuse to answer.
“As an exAritzia employee, it is in our contract as a conflict of interest,” alleged @roachfromspongebob. “That said, I think the manager should’ve let it slide like relax.”
“Honestly worth getting fired from to promote your side hustle it’s just aritzia lmfao,” @femfem237 added.
Overall, viewers didn’t love the way the situation seemed like it was being handled.
“Not leaving your home to get fired on your day off,” wrote @cbifyouseethiscallme. “I would [have] told them whatever needs to be said can wait until my shift.”
“Does your manager own aritzia? Why do they care so much?” @mzmiich asked.
In a follow-up video, Kendal confirmed that she no longer works at the store, although she said it was more of a “mutual decision,” with “other factors and reasons why” the job was no longer a good fit.
“It’s really hard to just stay committed to a job that you don’t necessarily love, especially when you’re trying so hard to work on your business, so it was just a lot, juggling everything,” she said. “But I’mma keep promoting my business.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @ugcwithkendal via TikTok comment and Aritzia via email.