Since Trump began rolling out tougher immigration policies, with ICE playing a more visible role, there’s been a noticeable appetite online for stories that cast immigrants in a negative light. That context matters with a video now circulating of a pregnant immigrant in Virginia who was fired after being filmed working barefoot.
The clip shows the woman in a kitchen area without shoes or socks, something a customer found so off-putting that he decided to record her. “Disgusting health violation, Wendy’s worker wears no shoes & no socks while serving food in Virginia,” he wrote alongside the video. He later claimed that the sight made him lose his appetite and stated that he had filed a complaint with Wendy’s customer service.
The video also claims the Virginia worker had already been warned by management that she couldn’t work without shoes. According to the footage, she explained that her feet were swollen due to her pregnancy and that regular shoes were painful to wear. Management reportedly sent her home for the remainder of the shift, and the following day, she was fired.
The clip quickly went viral, racking up more than two million views and predictably splitting opinion, with viewers divided over whether the former employee deserved sympathy or criticism.
People Reacting to the Virginia Immigrant Getting Fired
It’s safe to say that there were a lot of racist comments left under the video of the Virginia woman because she was described as a “Somali immigrant.” This is why several comments were quite harsh. For example, one person said, “we aren’t a 3rd world country.” Another person then replied, “If the demonrats have their way, it will be!” Someone else also wrote, “She can cook barefoot in Somalia.” Since the video claimed she was Somali, one person said, “They literally intentionally put that in there to make it about race and relate it to the current issues. It wasn’t necessary information to put that there just to spark discourse and ppl to defend her.”
Thankfully, not all comments were racist toward the Virginia woman. Some tried to sympathize with her because she was working while pregnant. “Working while in pain and barefoot being pregnant? She’s a trooper and sometimes people should mind their own business,” one person wrote. Another person also added, “No freaking kidding. They’re her feet. People should be more concerned with someone who’s sick working than someone barefoot! It’s hazardous for her!” While what she did is wrong, this doesn’t justify people being racist or focusing on her being an immigrant.
