Many people are sharing their bad job experiences online, from being shorted on pay to outright sexism in the workplace. Oklahoma artist Karson Bree is now going viral for a bold response she shared with senior staff members and an HR representative when she was terminated from a local job where she worked for less than three months. The video left me cheering for the artist, who felt the job was less than satisfactory during her time there.
The video was posted on TikTok by Karson Bree (@babyplight). The graphic designer/digital creator was invited into a zoom call with two senior staff members, as well as HR. Karson is told her position is being “terminated” and seconds pass as she questions why. Karson is told it’s due to late publication, typos, and an ill-fitting design style. All this in the short 69 days she has worked there. That’s not at all a long enough time for such a position.
Karson, however, wasn’t going to stand for that and decided to speak up. In the video of her termination, you can hear her pushing back on what they just told her. She says that there were numerous leadership failures, late materials for her work, being denied useful tools that she could have used on the job, and more.
Karson shared that the way this was handled was not in a professional manner. She cited receiving an 11 PM message the night before her termination and no longer had access to her work tools.
Karson went on to say to her boss, “Sincerely, Julie, I hope you take this as a growth opportunity because every step of this since starting, my biggest frustration was working with you. I want that to be known.” She then signed off with a, “It’s been lovely working with you, Kendall. I cannot say the same for you, Julie. Have a great day.”
Karson Bree boldly tells the three, “I have met my requirements. And quite honestly a lot of the reasonings as to why it was late was dependent upon you.” She goes on to say, “I’ve asked considerable amounts of being able to access things such as the production email to help these things get out more on time. And every step of the way I was met with roadblocks and being told no as my direct report.”
Karson felt as if, for the short amount of time that she worked there, she would not receive timely responses and wouldn’t be asked if she needed any help with her assignments even though she was new at the job.
TikTok viewers swarmed the comments, praising Karson for the way that she handled the termination. Not o mention being an advocate for herself as a creative. Too many creatives fail to be treated fairly in the workplace already. There’s a push for extended hours on projects, lack of resources, and too little pay in many cases.
Karson Bree’s experience has sparked many conversations regarding how badly employees are often treated by their employers. It seems they aren’t taken as seriously as they should be. Hopefully, these conversations continue and employees, those who work in creative environments and those who don’t, are not afraid to speak up about the lack of professionalism they experience in the workplace.
