Texas woman says she was fired over 'drunk' text message. People ask, 'Is it legal?'

A woman in Texas was fired from her job via a drunk text message from her boss at night. Sharing her story on TikTok, Kristin McCarley, a real estate agent from East Texas, said her boss sent her a message at 10:36 pm on Saturday, which read, “Do not come in Monday. I’ve mage (sic) changes to the office. I have to let you go." The single mother was pretty surprised by the weird way she was fired, news.com.au reported. Her video has amassed 1.4 million views. The boss's drunk texts did not end with this, and he later sent another one at 1:07 at night. It was even more bizarre as he had attached a screenshot of a photo from her social media account of her and a friend smiling. How it was relevant to her firing is not clear and has surprised her viewers.

People commenting on her video stated that she had a clear case of suing the company and her ex-boss. They are also asking McCarley to go to her HR. “You about to get a Christmas blessing in the form of a lawsuit,” one wrote. Reacting to being fired over a drunk text message, a user wrote, “That’s so insanely unprofessional", with another one adding, “What???? OMG! Getting fired over a drunk text. This can’t be legal."

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Major cultural shift at workplaces

Experts are flagging this action as a major cultural shift being seen at workplaces. Workplace expert Roxanne Calder told news.com.au that firing an employee over text message is "impersonal". She added that instead of using a professional chain of communication, bosses are increasingly turning to email threads and messages. “Technology, I think, has become a bit of a shield – I don’t think people are intending to be unprofessional or cruel,” she said.

Why are firings and resignations happening over text messages?

Other experts say that delivering the news through text messages is a way to avoid confrontation and professional responsibility. This has supposedly increased after workplaces went remote during COVID-19. “Ever since the pandemic, we’ve normalised that distance," Calder said. She says text messages are not only being used to fire an employee, but the latter are also using this mode to resign from their jobs. She is calling companies to think about the brand and reputation, since if this becomes normal, then "we’re in big trouble."