Woman shares video of herself and her co-worker dancing, but only one of them was fired: ‘We know it was him’
‘Girl he could sue for racial discrimination EASILY’ said one commenter on the viral TikTok
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Your support makes all the difference.An employee at The Art Hotel in Denver, Colorado, revealed that her co-worker was fired after she posted a video of them dancing to TikTok. While many users assumed the termination was a result of the video, others speculated that the firing was racially motivated.
Faith Riggs, who is white and goes by the username @faithriggs5, posted a TikTok video of herself dancing with her co-worker Justin on Saturday as the two were working a shift at the hotel. Riggs wrote on the TikTok: “Guess which one of us got fired after this”.
“I wish this was a joke,” she captioned the post. “Saddest day ever”.
The TikTok was viewed more than eight million times. Many commenters speculated that the dancing video was the reason for her co-worker’s firing, leading a number of users to believe that her co-worker – a Black man – was wrongfully terminated.
“Let me guess.. Him?” wrote one person.
“We know it was him,” said another TikTok user.
One person suggested, “Girl he could sue for racial discrimination EASILY”.
Another user questioned: “If it wasn’t both of y’all I would think the other might be wrongful termination?”
In a follow-up video, Riggs addressed the concerned comments alongside Justin. She explained that it was Justin who was initially fired, but that she was also terminated from the position after not showing up to work.
“First, it was him that got fired and they wrote me up yesterday saying if I no-call, no-show, I’m getting fired,” she explained. “So guess who no-call, no-showed!”
Riggs also provided some background to the viral dance video.
“We came into work yesterday and he worked a six hour shift before they fired him,” she said. “Secondly, they said they weren’t firing him and that he is ‘forced to resign’ so that he could not claim unemployment for his bills.”
“The termination had nothing to do with the dance video,” Riggs added. “No one saw us make the dance video. The termination was for no-call, no-showing.”
However, Riggs still believed her friend’s termination was unfair because she did not show up to work four times and received only a warning from their manager. Meanwhile, Justin did not show up to work only twice and was fired.
Justin chimed in: “The math ain’t mathing”
TikTok commenters still urged Justin to sue for racial discrimination, but praised Riggs for defending her friend by leaving the job too. “You’re a real one for sticking beside your friend,” a commenter said.
The Independent has contacted Faith Riggs for comment; and to The Art Hotel’s parent company, Hilton.
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