A user on TikTok has sparked after alleging she was laid off on her second day on the job—only to see her position relisted at a significantly lower salary.
In a video with over 165,000 views, TikTok user Diana (@thecoffeedate) writes via text overlay, “Accepting a job offer at a makeup brand for 55k, getting laid off after 2 days and then seeing them post that same job for 30k.”
In the caption, Diana notes that this incident occurred in 2018.
@thecoffeedate Lol ahhh… I was let go during lunch on the second day 🤡 this was in 2018! #layoffs ♬ OH MA GAWD – m🦇
Commenters were quick to note how low the new offer was, especially given the fact that the job was located in Orange County. PayScale claims that “Orange County’s housing expenses are 157% higher than the national average.”
“30k in todays society is NOT ok. Even 55k is a difficult salary to live off if you are living in a place with expensive living costs,” wrote one user. “I’m so sorry.”
“30k?! 30k?! Whose offering 30k?! That is hardly livable,” shared another.
“That’s literally under minimum wage in CA for a full time position,” added a third. “WTF?”
Several commenters questioned whether the move was legal.
It’s unclear without additional information, though given Diana’s description, it’s certainly against best practices. Employment in California is at-will, meaning that employers in the state can let go of employees at any time for any reason, so long as that reason is not against the law.
However, letting someone go and then refilling their position with someone else may open the company up to a wrongful termination lawsuit. As an article in Business News Daily puts it, “you can legally lay off and hire employees at the same time, but you cannot lay off an employee only to quickly hire someone else to fill that same position.”
Diana later posted a follow-up video offering more information about the situation.
@thecoffeedate The makeup brand i worked for for 2 daya before getting let go… I had planned on exposing the brand but i honestly dont want the employees to face any repercussions!
♬ original sound – Diana Trinh
According to Diana, she initially applied for the role of social media manager and asked for $55,000, an offer that was later accepted.
On her second day at work, Diana says she was getting ready for a photo shoot when her new manager pulled her aside for a meeting during lunch. It was at this moment that she was told she was being let go.
“I thought it was a joke, because it hadn’t even been, like, the full second day yet,” Diana recalls.
A few days later, she noticed that her same job was posted by the same company for $31,000-$35,000.
The company in question, Diana revealed in the comments, is REALHER Makeup.
“The thing that is so ironic is that this brand is supposed to empower women,” Diana says.
If the job listing posted by Diana was for full-time work, there may be other legal issues at play. In the state of California in 2018, the minimum salary threshold was $45,760 for employers with 26 or more employees (or $43,680 per year for employers with 25 employees or fewer).
This means that, if they were truly trying to find a full-time replacement, they would be paying that replacement below the minimum wage.
Commenters were not too happy with this new information.
“Their insta says ‘makeup that empowers,’” stated a commenter. “Yeah, empowers employees to live in poverty.”
Thankfully, things ended well for Diana, as she reveals in a follow-up.
@thecoffeedate Replying to @cheekymarxist Everything happens for a reason and im doing so much better now!!! Dodged a bullet ❤️❤️ #layoffs ♬ Area Codes x Lollipop by L BEATS – DJ L BEATS
Diana says that following her termination, she landed her “dream job” a month later. During her time with this job, she was also able to move to Spain and teach English. She eventually landed another role with which she was content, and she now works in a freelance capacity.
“I’ve been working remotely for 3 years now with unlimited PTO,” she summarizes. “So, if you’ve recently just gotten laid off, don’t worry. This is not a rejection. This is a redirection, and I’m sure that you’ll find a much better job in the future.”
We’ve reached out to Diana via TikTok comment and REALHER via email.
Update 2:34pm CT, 2023: In a TikTok direct message exchange with the Daily Dot, Diana offered further insight into her video and the event that inspired it.
“The day I started, the girls told me my direct manager left (maybe she was let go) so I was shocked, as during the interviews she said she would be training me,” she recalled. “And I actually found an email from him stating that the original budget he had was 42k, he accepted my offer of 55k and then put out a job listing for the 31-35k… so going even lower than his original budget.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think the post would blow up as I only had 72 followers at the time and forgot all about the incident until I saw a Google Photo memory,” she wrote. “I honestly feel terrible calling out the brand, and I’m not sure why… maybe because things ended well for me? But I’m glad I shared it as I didn’t realize that others had had something similar happen to them! I didn’t share it originally because I thought no one would care.”
“As for if it’s illegal or not, I didn’t know that. I don’t think taking them to court is worth it,” she added. “I feel like the negative press has done enough as they turned off their comments.”
