One worker is blasting Sharetea, a popular bubble tea brand, for shady work practices in a now-viral TikTok video.
In the clip that has racked up over 283,000 views and over 50,000 likes as of Monday, user Ryan Song (@leader.of.asia) accused the employer of behaving both unfairly and illegally.
@leader.of.asia ♬ original sound – ry
“Today, we’re gonna do something called a felony count,” he began his video. “We’re gonna count how many felonies Sharetea Escondido, San Diego, California has committed within the past two years.”
He then lists the alleged offenses he believes are absolutely predatory and illegal. Apparently, Song worked there for a month two years ago and has still yet to pay him for his time on the job. His attempts to contact the company for an update on when he will finally get a payout were all ignored, he said.
And to make matters worse, the company allegedly employed him while he was a minor.
“That’s felony number one,” he continued. “They have not paid a minor for the work that he did.”
The issue of non-payment was apparently not one only Song faced. He claimed other employees fell into the same trap with Sharetea and were never compensated for their time on the job. According to Song, one former employee even reached out to him to share that he also had never been paid.
However, Song’s allegations against the company did not end there. According to him, the company’s second felony was that they held onto employee’s money for more than three days after they were fired without notice. He also explicitly called out the store’s owners for serving alcohol to minors at their establishment.
“So that’s felony number three,” Song said.
The TikToker was further insulted when he tried to return to his former workplace to demand his pay. When he explained to a manager at the store that he wanted his pay, he says he was told “No, you didn’t do sh*t” as the reason why he would not be paid.
“There were receipts of me working,” he told his viewers.
Ultimately, Song tried to resolve the issues yet again and decided to recently contact his former employer. They responded by saying they had no record of him working for the company.
“You literally just admitted that I worked there,” he said. “The worker knew me. Other workers know me. But you won’t acknowledge it because you don’t wanna pay me.”
Song also said he has evidence that he did in fact work at the establishment including work schedules with his name on it and direct messages between himself and managers where he talked about work.
He further alleged that the company is now suing him for harassment and defamation.
In the comments section, other Sharetea employees and former employees shared similar stories.
“I can believe this bc my ‘interview’ for Sharetea lasted 3 hours bc they basically made me work a shift for free,” a user commented.
“Wait stop I had the same experience at Sharetea in Convoy San Diego, mayhaps the company needs a lawsuit,” another viewer wrote.
“Worked at a Sharetea, didn’t get paid for training,” another former worker alleged.
Others recommended the TikToker get a lawyer.
“Contact an employment lawyer my guy,” one said.
The Daily Dot contacted Sharetea’s Escondido location for comment and reached out via email. The Daily Dot also contacted Song by email.