Rhiannon Ingle
A heavily tattooed woman with face piercings has slammed a store after allegedly being rejected from a job 'over her looks'.
The 23-year-old opened up about how difficult she's found it to secure a job because of her appearance and has taken to TikTok to share her frustration at US retailer, TJ Maxx.
Ash O’Brien, who goes by the handle @ashxobrien online, shared with her 97.6k followers exactly why she was so vexed by the situation and it has since started a pretty heated debate online.
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She began her three-minute-long video explaining: "I applied to TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and they denied my application. They couldn’t even call me. They just sent me some automated email."
Clearly annoyed by the way the company handled the letdown, Ash took it upon herself to physically go into the store to ask the hiring manager for some feedback and explanation as to why she didn't get the job.
"So went in today and I was like, 'What was the reason I didn’t get hired?' and she was like, 'Oh, like you just don’t have enough experience. There [were] candidates that had more experience than you'," she said.
After suspecting there may have been another reason as to why she didn't land the gig, namely the tattoos which cover her face and body, Ash asked the hiring manager if her ink was the actual reason behind why she was rejected from the role.
She recalled: "I asked her if it was ‘cause of my tattoos, ‘cause obviously a lot of places don’t like tattoos.
"She said that wasn’t the reason. I don’t feel like that’s true but whatever I’ll leave it at that."
Elsewhere in the video, Ash wondered: "I wanna know if I’m the only one experiencing this or not.
"I hate that my tattoos are such a defining factor for me getting a job or not. Like, just because I have tattoos doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be a good worker... I do not understand that at all because quite literally some of the most smart, intelligent people I’ve ever met are people with tattoos and piercings."
She carried on: "I could be wrong but I’ve seen in Europe people with tattoos and piercings can get jobs like way easier there, so [has] America not hopped on the bandwagon?"
The video has since racked up a staggering 8.5 million views alongside dozens and thousands of comments from people eager to share their views on the matter.
Some were supportive of Ash, who is self-employed on OnlyFans and Uber Eats, with one TikTok user sympathising: "A lot of places won't hire me because of my facial piercings. And face tattoo."
"Companies tend to have an image they want to uphold. However, I think your tattoos and piercings are beautiful," praised another.
Others, however, called her delusional for the video this one TikTok user hitting out: "I wanna be this delulu."
A second explained: "I’m a tattoo artist of 15 years, you have to have a set career path before you go big on face and throat tattoos."
"Tattooer here," chimed in a third, "it's probably the tattoos."
And a final TikTok user added: "HR supervisor here. There is no way any company would put you in front of customers like TJ Maxx."
Tyla has reached out to TJ Maxx for comment.