“End times for sure”: Man believes he was fired from dealership job for social media video saying the Nissan Leaf is the least sellable car on the lot

Social media has blurred the line between personal expression and professional consequences.

Car salesman claims Nissan Leaf is universally rejected

In a viral video with 10.8 million views, TikToker Ali (@keys.approvals) shared his candid observations about one particular vehicle that customers consistently refuse to buy, no matter how desperate their situation.

“There’s one car that no matter how low the credit is, no matter how desperate someone is for a car, anytime this car is presented as an option, they will always say no,” he said.

According to Ali, the car is rejected across the board, whether customers are young women, older men, or anyone in between.

“Something about this car is just so ugly to every single genre of audience,” he said.

While Ali doesn’t explicitly name the vehicle in the original video, he does show the Nissan Leaf at the end of the clip.

@keys.approvals Literally can’t pay someone to drive this #cars #electric #ev #florida ♬ original sound – Keys & Approvals

Salesman claims he was fired over the video

In a follow-up video, Ali revealed that he believes the TikTok led to his termination from the dealership.

“POV: The dealership you sacrificed your 18, 19 & 20 yr old years fires you over a 35 sec TikTok,” text overlay on the video reads. He captioned it: “I just can’t prove it yet.”

In another follow-up, Ali shares footage of himself driving home on October 2, still processing what happened.

“They pull me into the office. He just gives it to me straight up. No hesitation. Literally just gives it to me. Ali, we’re gonna have to let you go. Performance,” he recounts.

When Ali questioned the performance claim, his manager reportedly responded vaguely. “It’s other stuff [too].”

“He really didn’t give me a reason,” Ali pointed out.

Despite the lack of clarity about his termination, Ali maintains a positive outlook.

“You can either be upset and mad and give up, or you can just say thank God and move on and find the next story, the next step,” he said.

His profile bio now reads: “My job fired me for sharing my honest thoughts about one of the vehicles on the lot.”

Ali’s situation raises an important question: Can your boss actually fire you for what you post on TikTok?

Yes, and it happens more often than you’d think, Legal Dive reported.

Most states have at-will employment, which means your employer can fire you at any time for pretty much any reason, as long as it’s not illegal. Most people think they have free speech rights on social media, but that’s a common misconception. The First Amendment only protects you from the government, not from your boss.

Employers can discipline or fire workers if they think a social media post could disrupt the workplace or hurt the company’s reputation. And it doesn’t matter if you posted from your personal phone on your own time. Social media posts are public, and companies that care about their brand will absolutely check what employees are saying online.

That said, there are limits. Employers can’t fire you based on protected characteristics like race, religion, or national origin. Some states, including California and New York, also protect employees’ political speech and activities.

In Ali’s case, his manager said “performance” was the reason, but didn’t get specific. Legal Dive notes this vague approach is pretty typical in at-will employment. Employers don’t have to spell out exactly why they’re letting you go. Whether the Nissan Leaf TikTok was really the reason or just a convenient excuse, we may never know for sure.

“Time to become the competition now,” a top comment read.

“The crazy part is that in a couple of months, they’re probably gonna have a social media manager and they will be paid to do what you just did,” a person said.

“Broooo, it’s not you. They’re going broke and need any excuse to lay people off. No stress. Rejection is protection onward and upwards,” another speculated.

“So your video, at their dealership, got 2.3 million views, and they punished you for it. It’s the end times for sure,” a commenter wrote.

The Daily Dot reached out to Ali via TikTok direct message and comment.

“End times for sure”: Man believes he was fired from dealership job for social media video saying the Nissan Leaf is the least sellable car on the lot

Car salesman claims Nissan Leaf is universally rejected

Salesman claims he was fired over the video

Can employers fire you for social media posts?