Man Finally Lands Job at Big Tech Firm After 9½ Months Unemployed, Then Gets Fired on His First Day Over 'Hygiene Issues'

A New York man who had spent nine-and-a-half months looking for work and had exhausted his unemployment benefits thought his job search was finally over when he landed a better-paying role at a major technology company through a temp agency. Just hours into his first day, he was told he was being let go over alleged 'hygiene issues'.

The man, who goes by the Reddit username Havocko, described his ordeal in a recent post on the r/BoyDinnerDiaries subred, which triggered a social media storm, with countless users debating whether there was a genuine hygiene problem or the explanation given to him was something else.

A Promising Start That Was Cut Short

The person wrote that the morning of his first day at work initially went well. His supervisor was friendly and showed him around the office. The Reddit user noted that he was particularly impressed by the stocked kitchen and bathroom, facilities he claimed he had not had at his previous jobs.

The supervisor explained his new role before another employee arrived at around 10 a.m. and took over his training. Then the day began to take an unexpected turn.

The trainer stepped away for a meeting, later returned, and told him she had work to complete. He was asked to sit and wait for the time being. Before noon, the supervisor told him to take an early lunch.

He agreed, and on his way out of the building, he received the call. The agency, through which he landed the job, informed him he was being let go from the tech firm, citing issues with his hygiene. Upon further inquiry, he was denied an explanation, leaving him stunned.

From Body Odour to a Burp: Man Starts Questioning Everything

The person believed he had taken considerable care over his appearance before arriving at work.

'I was well-groomed, wore a new shirt, showered, etc. At worst, my pants could've used a lint roller,' he wrote, later adding that he has two pets. 'My pants needed a lint roller, but it wasn't covered in excessive fur. They would have to really be staring at my pants to notice anything.'

Havocko even shared that he doesn't smoke, brushes and flosses his teeth daily, lives with a clean freak roommate, his hair and beard were the same as during the interview, and didn't have a strong body spray on at work. He identified as black, but ruled out that racism was involved in the situation.

What troubled him most was the lack of an explanation. That left him trying to reconstruct the morning and work out what could possibly have happened. Super conscious, he even had his friends confirm that he didn't stink.

'One of them got real close to me, and she said she only smelled a little bit of sweat; with the caveat being she had to get real close to smell anything... I thoroughly washed myself, yes, including my a**,' the person had shared on the social media platform.

'Could it have been when I scratched my nose, and it looked like I was picking it? Maybe at some point, I burped with my mouth closed, and it was heard?' he wondered.

Support Pours In on Reddit, Some Claim a Sinister Plot

A few Reddit users were of the view that the company must have noticed something, pointing out that people can become accustomed to their own smells and may not realise when they have an odour.

However, the majority of the people on the platform shared similar traumatic experiences and offered support to the affected individual. Many believed that temp agencies could be difficult to deal with, while others offered to help with his job search.

However, one user by the name IndigoTrailsToo said something about tax credits that made sense for Havocko.

'Because you have 2 people say that you did not stink. It sounds like the company was trying to farm tax credits, and you weren't in the desired bracket,' the Reddit user wrote. 'Not wanting to send a termination letter or email kind of confirms that they don't want to even be associated with having hired you, so that there is nothing that you can claim against them.'

In all, the mystery around what the employer actually saw or smelled that morning remains. Now that the agency has distanced itself from Havocko, he is frustrated without a closure, especially because 'he needed that job.'