Mabel is a Ghanaian schooling in the US
A Ghanaian international student in the USA has accused a service agency of allegedly subjecting her to racism.
Speaking online about her ordeal, the woman identified as Mabel, with the TikTok handle ‘cocobrown,’ detailed that she worked as a server for an agency called Exquisite Staffing and was tasked with serving at an awards show.
“So, I faced the biggest racism. Every time they talk about racism in America, I didn’t know what it was until Monday. I work as a server for a certain agency called Exquisite Staffing. We have four locations and I’m mostly based at one location that I really like going there because all the customers over there like me for the 2nd Street.
“But every time I get scheduled at Wall Street, it’s like nobody wants to go to Wall Street. I understand why nobody wants to go to Wall Street. On Monday, they had this award show called the Gotham Awards, and I went; I was a server,” she narrated.
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According to Mabel, while at the event performing her duties, she was asked to replace another worker as a waitress who had fallen ill.
She further stated that near the end of the event, when most guests were leaving, some of her colleagues took videos of American singer Rihanna and her partner, an act she claimed she did not participate in, despite holding her phone.
“I was basically a waitress. I was just pouring wine for people and then one person from one table, she dipped, she wasn’t feeling well so she went home and they asked me if I wanted to be a server. I said yes. I took the position as the a waiter. I got help from nobody. I wasn’t having any B waiter; my B waiter didn’t want to help me. I did everything on my own, I wasn’t complaining. I cleared everything, worked everything and so, last minute it was time for them to go home,” she said.
Mabel continued to say that, “Rihanna was there [at the awards] and I was literally about to go home and then one of my friend was like, oh, I worked really hard so I should wait, maybe my table is going to give me a tip or something so I should wait. I was like fine, I’m going to wait for like some five to six minutes and see if I get a tip for my table. One person suggested we go and see Rihanna and ASAP and I agreed. I was standing there; I had my phone out and there were people [some of our workers] taking pictures with Rihanna and ASAP.”
Mabel added that she was called over by one of the supervisors, a captain, who told her to write down her name and “clock out,” while her colleagues were allowed to clear their tables and pack up after the event.
“I held my phone and then one of the captain came in and told them [workers] to start clearing except me, telling me to follow him. I followed him and he told me to clock out. I asked what I did and he said ‘you’re not supposed to take a video or picture of anybody’ but I told him I wasn’t taking picture of anybody. He insisted I clock out and leave. He said ‘if I don’t write your name down or send you out of here, they’re going to fire me’ and I complied,” she recounted.
The Ghanaian added that she later received a notification informing her of her dismissal, with no reasons provided.
“… they sent me a notification that I’ve been fired… I’ve emailed HR, and emailed everybody asking them what I did wrong. I went to the other locations and one of the bosses said they don’t just fire anybody like that, and you’ll have to do something really crucial for them to fire you. What did that White man tell them for them to fire me? The people who were taking the videos are still there,” she stated.
Watch her videos below:
@c0cobrown How do I get fired without anybody telling me what I did wrong ? This is unfair in so many ways #racism #exquiste staffing@DRUSKI ♬ original sound – Mabel
@c0cobrown Hoping for the best #USA #tiktokghana ♬ original sound – Mabel
MAG/AE
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