"Don't Trust Co-Workers" — Discount Tire Employee Says She Was Fired for Taking an Interview at Competitor's Store

While the number of Americans securing themselves through side hustles so they'll be able to actually have emergency savings, has been steadily increasing over the years, the absolute havoc wrought on the United States economy since 2021 appears to have made securing a part-time job a necessity for many folks just so that they could make ends meet.

According to Bank Rate, "Half of millennials and more than half of Gen Zers" held side hustles in 2023, and it doesn't look like that number is going to go down anytime soon, seeing as inflation rates, while not increasing at the same alarming rate as in previous years, is still climbing, and doesn't look like it's going to precipitate any time soon.

Because there are so many people working multiple jobs, and folks are struggling to pay their bills and afford rent or a mortgage in what is currently one of the worst times in America's history for housing, it makes sense why there would be so many people who are either looking to secure a side hustle or any type of higher paying job.

But it's this mindset that seems to have cost a Discount Tire employee her job after she interviewed at another prospective employer, she says in a viral Instagram Reel that begins with her standing in front of a mirror while in her work uniform.

A text overlay in the clip reads: "How'd you get fired from discount tire?" as makes a face in the mirror, before the video transitions to a screenshot of a text message from someone who appears to be the young woman's Discount Tire supervisor.

The text reads: "Hello Kylie [redacted] informed me that you were going to put your two weeks in this evening or tomorrow because [redacted] is going to offer you $20 an hour. I wish you would have really considered our discussion this morning and your potential and great future with such a great company, Discount Tire."

The manager then proceeded to fire her for entertaining another offer from a different company, stating that her services for the business were no longer needed: "Consider today your last day. I wish you luck with you and your future endeavor" the message is cut off at this point.

Kylie further explained the nature of her exchange with her boss in a text overlay that covers up a portion of her boss' text: "I was looking at other opportunities that fulfilled my dream, which discount is so pro 'make dreams come true'. I had told my boss I went to an interview with was not going to switch over there," she says in the clip.

The TikToker continued to write, however, "I then told him about the opportunity to go to a job I had been wanting to go to before applying to discount. I told my boss I would discuss my career path with my father and decide what I wanted to do. On my way home from that shift I got this message"

According to Glassdoor, Discount Tire has clocked in an average employee satisfaction rating of 3.9 out of 5: "72% of employees would recommend working at Discount Tire to a friend and 68% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months."

Those are pretty good figures when you consider that more people usually jump on the internet or call a company up to complain rather than praise workers/corporations for a job well done: aka there are more "hell wishers" out there than "well wishers," to take a page out of Vennu Mallesh's book.

It doesn't appear that Kylie is one of those satisfied former employees, however, and there were throngs of other Instagram users who urged her to pursue legal action against the company: "Retaliation is illegal. Sue them," one person wrote.

Someone else replied: "Yeah that’s illegal what he’s done there," while someone else responded: "They can't fire you for putting in a 2 weeks notice"

Depending on the state that Kylie works in, this may not be true if she is an at-will employee. The National Conference of State Legislatures defines this classification of worker:

"At-will employment is an employment agreement that states that an employee can leave a job at any time, and an employer can fire an employee at any time for any reason, as long as the dismissal isn't unlawful."

Now it's that final part right there that you really want to pay attention to — should Kylie want to due her employer, she could argue that her firing was indeed, "unlawful."

Is there a strong enough argument to be made that Kylie is still entitled to her final two weeks of work she could've collected a paycheck for had her supervisor not "retaliated" against her for taking another job? Does the text message prove retaliation?

That's something for the courts to decide if she chooses to take legal action. What do you think? Did her supervisor do her dirty? Or is this just another less in not trusting your co-workers to not throw you under the bus?

Distractify has reached out to Discount Tire via email for further comment!