A Mercedes-Benz salesman sold a car at work and posted on social media about it. The next day, he’s out of a job.
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Balancing social media with real life isn’t always easy. Some companies monitor their workers’ public accounts, and in some cases, that can lead to job loss.
That’s exactly what TikTok user Raf (@rafsoo27) states happened to him. In a video with over 415,400 views, he claims the Mercedes-Benz dealership fired him because of his TikTok account.
How did it go down?
In his video, Raf explained that earlier in the week, he noticed a coworker “lurking” through his TikTok page. Right away, he felt uneasy.
“I told my girlfriend right away,” he said. “I was like, ‘Hey babe, like, this person’s lurking on my page, and I think she’s probably gonna bring something up at work.’”
His girlfriend dismissed his concern, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
The next day, he noticed all the Mercedes-Benz managers had disappeared into a backroom meeting, which he said never happened. His gut instinct told him they were talking about him.
He checked his TikTok again and saw that the same coworker was back on his page.
That’s when he texted his girlfriend. “Babe, I’m probably gonna get fired today,” he wrote
Fired over TikTok
Later that day, after selling a car, one of his managers asked him to step into the general manager’s office.
“They just said, ‘Oh, you have TikTok, you’re posting on TikTok. We don’t like your TikToks, we’re firing you,’” he recalled.
Raf is frustrated that he didn’t get a warning or a chance to take his videos down.
“It was just crazy to me to think that like, there was no like, ‘Hey, maybe can you just delete these posts that we don’t like?’” he said. “But no, there was none of that.”
Instead, he said, he was fired and “escorted out of the building like a criminal.”
What were the TikToks about?
Looking at his profile, most of his videos focus on his personal life, with a few touching on his work experiences—though he rarely films inside the dealership.
Raf didn’t specify exactly which videos got him fired, but he hinted that the dealership might have taken them out of context. He also suggested that other employees had done worse things without consequences.
“Meanwhile, there’s people working there who have done a lot worse than me and never gotten fired,” he said.
Can a job fire you over TikTok?
The short answer is yes.
While labor laws vary, most states in the U.S. follow at-will employment rules, meaning companies can fire workers for almost any reason—as long as it’s not discriminatory or illegal.
Companies often have policies in place regarding how employees represent them online. In an “integrity code” document, Mercedes-Benz states that all employees “have the right to freedom of expression.”
However, they also clarify, “When stating our opinions in public, at events, in public online forums or on social media networks where we can be recognized as Mercedes-Benz employees, we ensure that we identify our personal views as such.”
This means that while employees have a right to speak their minds, the company may still take action if they believe an employee’s social media presence reflects poorly on the brand.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mercedes Benz for more information.
The job hunt begins
Newly unemployed, Raf is scrambling to figure out his next steps.
“I have a lot of bills to pay and I have no job now,” he said.
At the end of his video, he put out a call for help.
“So yeah, anyone’s hiring, please, seriously, I’ll send you my resume,” he concludes.
In the comments, users had mixed reactions to Raf’s story.
Some warned him about trusting coworkers too much. “Never trust your coworkers they are not your friend,” one person wrote.
Others felt the firing was justified. “You are representing the company you work for. You ruined your life. Live and learn—sometimes these situations give you wisdom,” another added.
A few, however, thought he might have a case. “Wrongful termination lawsuit!” one user suggested.
@rafsoo27 So here is more of the story on how I got Fired from Mercedes Benz. If anyone is hiring please let me know, times are hard right now & I just lost my job because of Tik Tok #fyp #foryoupage #sales #sale #carsoftiktok #mercedes #salesman #fired #tiktok #unemployed #joke #petty ♬ original sound – Raf
The Daily Dot has reached out to Raf via TikTok comments and Mercedes Benz through email.
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