“Hate to say it but brought it on yourself.”
Complaining about your job online can feel pretty harmless, especially when you’re posting under a username with no ties to your real name. But the internet isn’t quite as anonymous as people might think.
One worker is warning others to be careful about what they say online after coming across a story about someone who allegedly lost their job over a Reddit post.
In a video with more than 10,000 views, content creator Chandler Stovall (@chandlerstovall.b) recounted a Reddit story about an AutoZone worker who was allegedly fired over something they said online.
“AutoZoner fired over Reddit post,” the text overlay reads.
Stovall says he came across the story while browsing Reddit but couldn’t find the original post again when he went looking for it.
“Apparently, he said some [expletive] on the Reddit page, and he didn’t keep his identity short,” Stovall recounted. The original Reddit post wasn’t provided, so it’s unclear what the employee actually shared.
He says some folks think AutoZone has someone assigned to look through employees’ online activity, but there’s no evidence that’s true.
Stovall added that he doesn’t have anything particularly negative to say about AutoZone, but he thinks employees should be careful about airing their frustrations publicly, regardless of where they work.
“Your opinion is your opinion, but sometimes it’s best to keep to yourself,” he says.
And it’s not just about your current job. He points out that future employers could also come across those posts and wonder whether the person would eventually criticize them too.
“Hate to say it, but brought it on yourself,” he says. “Don’t [expletive] where you sleep.”
Just because you’re posting on your personal account doesn’t mean your employer can’t fire you over it. According to LawInfo, most US employees work under at-will employment, meaning their employers can generally fire them for any lawful reason. And that includes what they post online.
The First Amendment doesn’t necessarily protect you, either. Freedom of speech protections generally restrict government action, not what private employers can do.
Some posts that could cost you your job include:
But employers don’t have unlimited authority. Federal labor law protects certain discussions between employees about wages, working conditions, and other workplace issues. Employees may also have protections when reporting illegal activity or discrimination.
Justice Law Corporation explains that private accounts are their own matter. For example, under Washington law, employers generally cannot require workers to hand over passwords to personal social media accounts, log into private accounts while a manager watches, add supervisors as friends to give them access to private posts, or change privacy settings to make private content accessible.
People weren’t particularly sympathetic to the allegedly fired worker.
“Ehh it’s just a job if ur scared of speaking ur mind most of the time you will get taken advantage of,” a top comment read.
“I put in my 2 weeks with AutoZone already for a better paying job,” another chimed in.
A third said, “When I was working at AutoZone, asking for advice on the AutoZone group, not naming any names.Just explaining my situation, it could not have come back to my specific DM. My DM harassed me, said I should have talked to her which I did. By the way, I have a disability that they were not even willing to accommodate AutoZone, effing sucks,” another wrote.
“100%, I got a warning once when I was at AutoZone! I didn’t even post anything, all I did was comment on AutoZone post on Reddit……..the next day our dm came in and told me that they found the comment,” a commenter added.
Motor1 reached out to Stovall via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to AutoZone via email. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.
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