Dollar General manager fired for posting TikToks of staffing shortages, difficult hours

TAMPA, Fla. (TND) — A Dollar General manager was fired after she posted videos on the popular video platform, TikTok. She blamed the corporation for limiting the number of employees and slashing hours.

Mary Gundel managed a Dollar General in the Tampa, Fla. area for several months. She said she had been working at the company for over three years as a manager in other stores.

Gundel began posting the TikToks in a series called "Retail Manager Life" startingMarch 28. Gundel said Dollar General routinely underfunds its stores — leaving overworked employees to deal with unhappy customers.

She mentioned in one of her videos she has seen many employees leave the company to work for other competing retailers, such as Publix and Winn-Dixie. WARNING: This link contains strong language.

She began using the hashtag #PutInaTicket to mock the company's bureaucratic response to workers' complaints. She encouraged workers and employees to post their own videos as well.WARNING: The below video contains strong language.

Four days later — after gaining thousands of views for her confessional style videos — she was fired before her April 1 shift.

Since 2016, the Department of Labor has proposed $3.3 million in fines against the retailer through the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Typical violations include blocked electrical panels, obstructed exits, forklift, housekeeping and sanitation violations.

The department states that these violations each represent hazardous and unsafe working conditions, placing workers at risk of injury.

Gundel said the store used to have 198 hours to give out — which were recently cut to 130. This amounts to one fewer full-time worker and one fewer part-time worker, the New York Times reported.

Dollar General released the following statement.

At Dollar General, we are committed to providing an environment where employees can grow their careers and where they feel valued and heard. We are proud that approximately 75% of our Store Managers, along with many other leaders, were promoted from within.

"Maintaining two-way, open lines of communication with our employees is a priority. We provide many avenues for our teams to make their voices heard, including our open-door policy and routine engagement surveys. We use this feedback to help us identify and address concerns, improve our workplace, and better serve our employees, customers and communities. We are disappointed any time an employee feels that we have not lived up to these goals, and we use those situations as additional opportunities to listen and learn. Although we do not agree with all the statements currently being made by Ms. Gundel, we are doing that here."

Gundel said she has started working for Uber and Lyft to help make ends meet for her husband and three children. She said a walkout is planned in early May and hopes to demand better pay and hours.

"At the beginning of all this, I would have told you [this would not have made a difference]," Gundel said. "But now standing in front of you, I would say yes."