She Started Bragging About A Massive Raise Online, Then Her Boss Saw The Video…

Proud moments can come in all forms, sizes, and degrees. These are some of the stepping stones in a person’s life….moments that we can recall as we look ahead, all while remembering that it took time, effort, energy, and determination to get to where we are.

There’s a lot to be proud of. To celebrate this milestone, people shared their proudest moments.

And for Lexi Larson, she shared a proud moment where she shared how much she earned after landing a new tech job in Denver last month.

She bragged about her proudest moment on TikTok, revealing her expenses and salary, in the video clip. Larson began her job with a salary of $70,000 and explained how she earned a $20,000 raise plus a $449 tax increase from her paychecks.



The video was viewed over 187,000 times.

However, she was fired two weeks after the viral video started earning more views on the app and explained what happened in a follow-up video.

Lexi explained in the since-deleted video that had garnered over a million views:

“So, TikTok got me fired, a couple of weeks ago, I started sharing about how I got a job in the tech industry. Well, I don’t work at that job anymore because they fired me.”

“I had to sign a bunch of stuff, so I’m, like, really nervous about going too far into detail here. But basically, my employer found my TikToks and really, really did not like that I was sharing my salary and stuff like that,” she said.

“Even though I’m very aware that talking about salary is federally protected — you can’t get fired for that — I did take all of those videos down just because, you know, they were my employer and I didn’t want them to be mad at me or not like me or something.”

“But then, like two days later, after they talked to me about my TikTok account, they ended up firing me because they said me having this account was a security concern because I could post something private about the company on my TikTok account,” she said.

“And I did specifically ask, like, ‘Have I broken any policies? Have I posted anything on TikTok that is a security concern?’ And they said not at this time, I have not, but it could happen at any time in the future, so they’re just not going to take that risk with me.”

Despite the fact that it’s usual for workers to be discouraged from discussing their pay in public, the US’s National Labor Relations Act guarantees people the right to do so. The National Labor Relations Board claims that “Employees have the right to communicate with other employees at their workplace about their wages. … When using electronic communications, like social media, keep in mind that your employer may have policies against using their equipment. However, policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful.”

Additionally, according to Benitta Joseph, a partner at the law firm Joseph & Norinsberg LLC, discussed the circumstance and any potential issues with social media use in an interview with USA Today.

“A company has a huge interest to make sure you are not engaging in discriminatory statements, disclosing trade secrets, threats of violence and unlawful conduct. If they do find out that you are doing any of these, it could be grounds for termination.”

The viewers then urged Larson to pursue legal action against her former employer.

“You should talk to an attorney,” one viewer suggested.They literally told you they were mad about you sharing salary and then fired you as a result.”

“Talk to an attorney NOW. It is illegal for any US employer to retaliate against employees for sharing salary info,” a second viewer commented.

A third said, “I am a lawyer telling you to get a lawyer. That’s potentially wrongful termination.”

In an email, Larson noted the importance of salary transparency and an employer’s values. She said, “This experience has taught me that it’s really important to find an employer that has the same values that you do.”

 “I post videos about my income/budgeting/personal finances because I think salary transparency is important, and it’s one of the main ways we can work on closing the wage gap. I found similar videos from creators extremely helpful in my own career, and I wanted to do the same for other people. There are employers who are supportive of that, and there are others who unfortunately are not.”

 

Sources: Awm, Nypost, USA



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