A white man attempted to kick out a Liberty Mutual agent who was parked in his neighborhood for a job in a viral TikTok. The agent, Shai Kaye (@connectedby_shai), shared the incident to the platform on Dec. 20, though it initially took place in Sept. 2019 in Wheaton, Illinois.
“As [a] Catastrophe Adjuster I have traveled to some interesting places. Many of which I wasn’t fully welcomed due to the color of my skin. Here’s one,” Kaye wrote in the caption.
In the video, Kaye states that the man drove past her car once before driving up a second time and approaching her. She says he told her she was parked on a private road, and she responded stating that she was there on business.
“Working While Black,” Kaye captioned the TikTok via on-screen text.
When the man returned for a third time, Kaye recorded their interaction. He claims he is President of the neighborhood’s Homeowners Association and received a call from a neighbor about Kaye’s presence.
“Later learned he lied about this ‘call,’” Kaye wrote via text in the TikTok.
She then assures him that she’s not soliciting anyone. Kaye states in the video that she has an appointment with a house down the street in 12 minutes.
“This is a private road. It means you can’t be on it. It’s posted,” he says.
“I actually can be on it. But go ahead. Do what you need to do,” she responds.
“We’ll see what the policeman says,” the man says, driving off soon after.
“I’m gonna record it, because I’m being harassed on this road. Just because I’m sitting here preparing for my inspection that I have this morning for property. I have business here, sir,” Kaye says directly to the camera.
“This is what happens when you’re African-American, and you’re here doing business. Because at the end of the day, once the police officer rolls up, there’s not gonna be an issue. And if there is an issue, everything’s been recorded,” she continues. “Profiling at its finest.”
However, Kaye says that her client was shown the video of the incident and later filed a complaint against the HOA President.
“After the incident, the insured filed a formal complaint after she received this video,” Kaye’s on-screen text reads in the TikTok.
Kaye’s TikTok received over 500,000 views, and many users showed support for Kaye in the comments.
“The fact he was SO quick to call the police shows he was lying Abt his “concern”. straight racism,” one user said.
“‘We pay for this’ = ‘we pay good money to keep yall out’ 😳,” said another.
However, some criticized Kaye, claiming she made the issue about race.
“To be honest. You brought up race not him,” one user said.
“I never heard him say anything about your color so why is ‘black’ in the heading?” said another.
But Kaye clarified the situation in the comments. In two follow-up videos, she notes that there were multiple other agents and contractors on the street in the neighborhood due to the catastrophe that took place. She says he only approached her.
“He did not say anything to the other adjuster or contractors. ONLY ME. Sorry to upset those who feel racism doesn’t exist,” she wrote in a comment.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kaye via Instagram messages and Liberty Mutual via email. We were unable to contact the man.
Update 4:13pm CT, Dec. 31: In a statement to the Daily Dot, Kaye says she is no longer employed by Liberty Mutual. And that at the time, her manager downplayed the situation, writing that: “I had been watching videos on TikTok while battling what I originally believed was a cold. A few ‘Working While Black’ videos had popped up on my FYP. After saving one too many TikToks my phone decided it was full. I was going through my vids to delete old stuff, stumbled upon that one and decided to share. I’m no longer an employee of Liberty Mutual, so I knew I wasn’t risking my job nor did I believe it would go viral or blow up. I’m sure LM is going to release an statement saying the same thing. When the incident occurred in 2019 I reported it to my then manager, he told me in so many words to do my job and get TF outta there. I simply shared one incident of hundreds.”
