An employee has shared the moment she was laid off from her job, with her savage response earning her huge amounts of praise from social media users.
The US woman, who goes by Karson Bree online, recently shared a recording of a video call from last year in which her then-employer told her that she would no longer be working for the company.
Karson did not name the company and also blurred the faces of the other people in the video, but in the caption of the TikTok, she explained she had taken a job at a local magazine and described the experience as a “s–t show.”
After less than three months with the company, she was asked to join a video call with two senior staff members and an HR representative, in which she was told her employment was being “terminated effective immediately.”
When asked why she was being let go, her boss, who she referred to only as Lisa, informed her that it was coming towards the end of the first 90 days of her employment and that she felt it “wasn’t a great fit.”
When Karson asked why they thought it wasn’t a great fit, her question was met with an almost 10-second silence.
Her boss then pointed to issues like the publication going out late, having typos and her design not being a “good fit” for the publication.
Karson then asked if she could provide feedback on these claims before launching into a detailed breakdown of her experience with the company.
She claimed a lot of the reasons for these issues were out of her control, such as receiving materials late and not being given access to accounts that would help get things out on time.
The worker claims she was “met with roadblocks” every step of the way before taking direct aim at her boss.
“I received very little feedback from you and often there were times where I did reach out to you without being told anything or having any reply or response whatsoever,” she said.
The woman added: “I feel like I have done every step of the way of trying to do this job to the best of my abilities and, quite frankly, you have made it very difficult.”
“I also found it very unacceptable to receive a message at 11 p.m. last night informing me that I was going to be laid off the next day with this meeting and then immediately revoking my access to everything.”
There was another long pause following this, after which Karson asked when the decision to end her employment was made.
This time the other senior worker on the call, referred to as Kendall, responded, claiming there was “no specific date” and they just felt it “wasn’t a good fit” and hoped she could find a role that was better suited to her “style” of work.
Once again, Karson pushed back on this, asking, “So was it a problem with my style of working? Kendall, I would love to know specifically if you had issues with my workflow with you.”
The woman explained it wasn’t as much a workflow problem as they found that she wasn’t a stylistic fit for the magazine.
But the worker wasn’t done quite yet, saying that, in that case, she would “love to make a suggestion”.
“If you guys want to maintain a good team and moving forward, you need to make sure that your leadership is also possessing the strengths that need to be had to make a well-designed magazine,” Karson said, adding that if she had been given the proper materials in a timely manner she would have been able to do her job more effectively.
“I apologize for there being slips and typos and slight mistakes, but when it comes down to it, the publications being sent out late are not my fault. I want that to be clear. It was not my fault.”
She then addressed her boss Julie directly, saying she hoped she took this feedback on-board, stating that “since starting my biggest frustration was working with you”.
“I want that to be known because you have not given me the time to express that to you or give you any feedback until this moment,” she said.
Karson was then reminded that this call was “not about Julie”, to which she responded that she understood that, but felt she wouldn’t get a chance in the future to raise her concerns.
She then ended the call by saying. “It has been lovely working with you Kendall, I cannot say the same for you Julie. Have a great day.”
Since sharing the video to TikTok last week, it has been viewed more than 2.3 million times and has gained more than 4,400 comments.
Many praised the employee for how she handled the situation and her professionalism.
“You did such a beautiful job standing up for yourself. Their answers were so vague,” one wrote.
Another person branded her response “epic,” and another said it was “extremely satisfying to watch.”
Others were stunned by how unprepared the leadership team seemed to be when Karson asked simple questions, such as why she was being let go.
“Did they not expect you to ask why…?” one person said.
“Them sitting in silence like that was embarrassing when she asked questions,” another wrote, with one agreeing, saying, “The silence was crazy.”
There were also HR professionals in the comment section who were horrified by how the situation was handled.
“I’m a person that unfortunately has to fire people and lay people off as part of my job. I have a full script and different things to say based off of different outcomes. I always tell them why, show empathy and let them know I never want to give the news,” one person said.
