Rhianna Benson
We all love a bit of workplace gossip, but one former restaurant employee has this week taken her professional problems a little further than her office group chat, by telling the entire internet why she was recently let go.
Taking to Reddit, the now-axed employee admitted she's been left at her wit's end since getting the chop, after her boss told her he'd based the decision to fire off on changes to her physical appearance.
There are all kinds of reasons why someone might lose their job - poor performance, inappropriate behaviour, stealing company property or in some rather extreme cases, committing an employment crime.
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In the instance of one social media-using worker, however, she claims she was a role model employee right up to the day she was sacked.
In fact, the unnamed member of hospitality staff was never found guilty of a single workplace misdemeanour throughout the duration of her employment.
According to a heartbreaking statement she penned on discussion forum Reddit recently, the reasoning her boss gave her whilst letting her go was entirely based on a slow change to her appearance.
"I worked at an upscale [sic] Resturant for 3 years before they fired me for gaining too much weight," she claimed.
Going on to give a glimpse into her former workplace, she went on to allege: "They only hire physically attractive people for waitresses here, and I fit that role well 3 years ago."
She added: "I’m still attractive, just a little heavier. I still can't believe this happened."
It didn't take long for a heartfelt discussion in the comments to kick off, with many expressing their horror at their ex-worker's predicament.
One reader revealed they'd had a similar experience whilst working for the US military, claiming they'd been 'almost kicked out' for being '1 percent over the allowed body fat'.
They went on to ask the original poster, 'Did the weight gain affect the tips you received?', to which she replied, 'Yes, the tips got much worse'.
Another reader went on to ask the axed employee: "Besides the firing did staff and management treat you any differently as you started to gain weight versus when you started?"
The original poster then wrote back: "Yes, I was the golden girl when I started and became a laughing stock."
And after a third reader asked whether concerns from high members of staff were communicated to her before she was let go, she replied: "They spoke to me about it but didn't mention they would actually fire me."
Other readers simply offered her their condolences.
"That’s terrible, I’m sorry you had to experience that. Anyway from one internet stranger to another I wish you the best," one wrote.