Colo. tech worker canned from new job after boasting about salary bump online: ‘TikTok got me fired’

Cautionary tales abound recounting the woes suffered from oversharing on the internet, yet one social media obsessed Colorado woman insisted on detailing how she increased her salary by thousands only to later lament that “TikTok got me fired.”

Lexi Larson of Denver, CO looks to be quite fond of updating her nearly 34,000 followers on the social media app TikTok of the latest happenings in her day to day life. However, her quest for attention took a turn for the worse when it led to her termination from a tech job only two weeks after she had begun.

Through trouble of her own making, Larson decided to brag about how getting a new job increased her salary from $70,000 to $90,000 in a short post on the platform.

@itslexilarson How much my paychecks increased when I went from $70k to $90k per year #paycheckbreakdown #salarytransparency #paytransparency ♬ all i need – 🎧

Though she had not named the new company with which she had started working, her employer caught wind of the video and decided that their recent hire was too much of a liability, severing ties before Larson had a chance to settle in and leaving her to conclude, So, TikTok got me fired.”

“Basically, my employer found my TikToks [and] really, really did not like that I was sharing my salary. They said it was a security concern because I could post something private about the company on my TikTok account.”

@itslexilarson I got fired bc of my tiktok 🙂 #igotfired #techtok ♬ original sound – Lexi Larson

She reportedly asked her former employer if she had violated company policy or posted anything that threatened security and was allegedly told, “not at this time, but it could happen at any time in the future.”

Colorado is an at-will state and so the unnamed employer did not need to provide a reason for terminating Larson and while the National Labor Relations Act protects an employee’s right to discuss their wages, the National Labor Relations Board also made clear “when using electronic communications, like social media, keep in mind that your employer may have policies against using their equipment.”

Though it is unclear if Larson had done so, she did go on to mention that the company had begun to “question [her] judgement” as a result of her videos.

She later said that she had thought the information was public knowledge, before adding, “I did go and check their Colorado job posting after all this happened and they do not have salaries listed.”

Recently, the desire to constantly post what’s happening to social media led to the termination of a Michigan transplant who had just acquired his dream job in New York City. After a viral video looking for groceries in the unfamiliar city was deemed hateful content, the tech company Outreach let him go alleging that he had shared “private and confidential information” online when he posted his offer of employment.

Founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, Seattle-based attorney Matthew Bergman told USA Today, “the idea that her actions were a firing offense seems pretty harsh. She was only there for two weeks,” but went on to warn, “I think it’s important to take a step back and be cautious when revealing personal information on social media. Whether it’s an employer looking into your activities, or a potential swindler looking to take you of your money, I think it’s a dangerous road.”

“It’s probably better to keep your money matters offline,” he added.

Bennitta Joseph, parter at New York law firm Joseph & Norinsberg LLC added to the subject, “[Larson] should think about contacting a lawyer if she can show she was terminated for discussing her wages.”

“A company has a huge interest to make sure you are not engaging in discriminatory statements, disclosing trade secrets, threats of violence, and unlawful conduct. If they do find out that you are doing any of these, it could be grounds for termination,” Joseph noted before adding, “The higher up you are, the more careful you have to be about what you post.”

Larson went on to confirm that she was able to convince her previous employer to take her back and claimed of her content, “I also think salary transparency is important, just because that’s how you know you’re getting underpaid in the workplace, which – as a woman – I’m very passionate about.”

Though she professed to house a touch of altruism, there is an undeniable level of narcissistic pride at play as she further bragged about the near $7,000 she has made on TikTok since the start of the year. Adding to the lack of real consequences evidently faced by Larson, she gladly shared snippets of her trip to Spain before resuming work at her old job.

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