Too many people still think of retail as a mindless job for people with no skill sets. Anyone who has actually worked in retail knows that’s far from the truth. In addition to requiring communication skills, customer service, and organizational skills, and the ability to bounce between any number of departments and jobs on a whim, some stores apparently expect employees to come in with a working knowledge of chemistry.
At least that’s the impression viewers got after watching @ealafaaada’s TikTok dishing on why she got fired from Target.
Filming from a Walmart, Ealaf recalls being called into the back of the Target store she worked at to discuss an “incident” that happened earlier in the month.
“So, we decided that we’re just going to terminate you, because we reached out to our legal team, and they said in our best interest it would be best that we terminate any relationship with you,” she says, mimicking the supervisor that fired her.
The incident in question? “I got fired because I mixed Fabuloso and Bleach,” Ealaf says. “Apparently, it made mustard gas.”
@ealafaaada I feel good😭😭 it was so depressing
♬ original sound – Ealaf<3
According to CanYouMix.com, putting bleach and Fabuloso together can “release toxic chlorine gas,” which can cause severe health problems or even be deadly in some instances.
Depending on the specific product, Fabuloso cleaners generally contain either a warning to not mix with bleach or with other cleaners as part of the instruction label. Still, Ealaf says she didn’t realize allowing those two products to mix was dangerous at the time.
She also claims she was denied any paperwork related to her termination and that the supervisor tried to insist on walking her out of the store to “embarrass” her, but she dodged and showed herself out the door instead.
“I feel liberated, ‘cause that job was genuinely depressing me. It was coming up in my therapy sessions, so that’s how I know it wasn’t good for me. But babes, if your job depresses you, quit before they fire you,” she advised.
Many viewers were just as surprised as Ealaf to learn that mixing those chemicals could be dangerous, and suggested that Target was at fault for not training her if they expected her to utilize them.
“Why couldn’t they just coach you and show you the way the company do it? Why skip to termination?” asked one commenter.
“Maybe they should get custodians and stop expecting workers who did not sign up for that job to clean,” another added, while a further user suggested Ealaf “file a EEOC complaint wrongful termination if you never took a safety training course for that role that was not your job to be using products anyway.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ealaf via Instagram message.
