A former James Avery employee says in a viral TikTok video that she was fired for telling users what happens to their jewelry after they leave the store.
@kimberly_mayorga15 James Avery really fired me for posting a video on what happens to the customers bracelet after they drop them off? STORY TIME? 👀 #fyp #jamesavery ♬ original sound – szasgrandchildren
The video, posted on Feb. 6, amassed 2.6 million views by Thursday. The TikTok user, Kimberly Mayorga (@kimberly_mayorga15), posted the video with a text stating, “James Avery firing me for letting customers know what happens to their jewelry after they leave?” paired with the popular TikTok audio, “Hmm funny yes, but not funny haha, funny weird.”
Mayorga gives more context in the caption of the video. “James Avery really fired me for posting a video on what happens to the customers’ bracelets after they drop them off? STORY TIME?” she writes.
The vagueness of the video led many curious TikTok users to ask for more information.
“WHAT HAPPENS?????” one user commented.
“Please show or tell me what they do????? I missed it,” another added.
Some speculated why the firing may have occurred.
“Yeah you’re not supposed to make videos at work,” a commenter wrote.
@kimberly_mayorga15 Replying to @cgp832 ♬ original sound – Kimberly Mayorga
Mayorga says in a follow-up video that she was aware she wasn’t supposed to film on her shift but that during the holiday season, which was peak time for James Avery, customers were angry about delayed orders.
“It got to the point where it was very frustrating that literally every day, all day, we at least had a dozen, over two dozen people getting upset with us just because the bracelet was not gonna be done on time,” Mayorga says.
As a seasonal employee for three years, and aware of the chaos that ensues over the holidays, Mayorga posted a video of James Avery’s bracelet-making process to put customers at ease.
“I feel like some people they don’t know what all goes back there during Christmas season, and like I said before, I know that we’re not allowed to have our phones back there, but I did that video with good intent,” Mayorga says. “I really just wanted to give the customers a little bit of what goes on back there.”
@kimberly_mayorga15 Pt 2 🫤 #fyp ♬ original sound – Kimberly Mayorga
In a second explanation video, Mayorga discusses how she was terminated.
“[My manager] didn’t specifically told me who reported the video, but she said, if I’m not mistaken, our district manager found out about it. Then I guess whoever was higher up found out about it, and they weren’t happy about the video,” Mayorga conveys.
Mayorga then says she explained to her manager why she posted the video, how she was getting a lot of gratitude from customers about her posts, and how other employees had posted similar content but kept their jobs.
@kimberly_mayorga15 Final Part. I hope I explained the story well. Please let me know if there’s any more questions 🥹 Thank you to everyone for the support! 🫶🏼 #fyp ♬ original sound – Kimberly Mayorga
“She said that the other people who were posting videos while being at work… that probably upper management hasn’t probably found out about it, maybe that’s why they’re still posting it, and that she is obligated to report such findings,” Mayorga says in a third explanation video.
Mayorga apologized to current employees who may have been affected and insisted those videos shouldn’t be a fireable offense.
“I feel like the videos that I’ve seen nobody is bashing the company, they’re actually promoting everything, they’re trying to get customers to come in,” Mayorga says. “I really feel like I got fired for a stupid reason, I would have understood if they would of gave me a writeup for it and given me a warning, like don’t do it again.”
Mayorga ends her video series by asking James Avery to change its recording policy because she believes behind-the-scenes clips would be beneficial.
Commenters shared their opinions about Mayorga’s firing.
“You may have had good intentions but the fact of the matter is you broke store policy,” a user noted. “How you get reprimanded isn’t up to you, it’s up to them.”
“I just saw the video and I think it was beautifully made,” another added. “Very informative. I get that you broke their protocol but a warning should’ve been enough.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Mayorga via Instagram direct message and James Avery via its contact page.
