Candidate calls out restaurant's 'ridiculous' reason for rejecting him after lengthy hiring process

Certain job positions require candidates to look and dress a certain way. However, 32-year-old Colin Kenrick—who goes by @colin_thescarletopera on TikTok—did not imagine that a tiny detail about his appearance would cost him a job opportunity in Los Angeles. In a video, Kenrick shared how he had applied for the server's role at what could be described as LA's "premium casual restaurant." Kenrick went through a three-step hiring process, and at no point did he come across any restaurant policy that he might be in violation of.

In the first step of the application, he answered some questions on their website. The second step involved a group interview on Zoom, followed by an in-person interview. After successfully clearing the initial two levels, Kenrick felt confident he would land the job as a restaurant server—until they began asking about tattoos. "At no point in the questionnaire and no point in the group interview did anybody ask about anything about tattoos," Kenrick mentioned in his video.

"State their policy on tattoos? There was no reference to that whatsoever. Long story short, after getting to this final process of the interview, where I'm speaking to the general manager and she seems lovely and we seem to be hitting it off," he recounted. The general manager then asked Kenrick if he could go to the back of the restaurant to meet the rest of the staff members, boosting his confidence about bagging the job.

"Right at the end of it, about 25 minutes in, she asked me, 'Do you have any visible tattoos?' To which I tell her, yes, and I'm wearing a short-sleeved-collared shirt. So I assume this whole time, she can see them. So I proceed to show her my tattoos," Kenrick revealed, showed his tattoos to the camera. "Once she sees these, the vibe changes really quickly. Immediately, she tells me, 'I don't think it's worth going forward with this process. I don't wanna waste any more of your time.'" Kenrick offered to cover them up with long-sleeved shirts and makeup, but the general manager informed him that they have a strict policy against visible tattoos on their staff.

"I had dined at this place several times, and I had seen waiters with much larger tattoos than I had," Kenrick recalled. He wondered if the rules regarding tattoos were different for male and female servers. "I guess I just think it's odd that in 2024 we're keeping people from employment for something as silly as minor tattoos that can be covered up pretty easily. I'm not the victim here. This is their business. They are welcome to say no," said Kenrick. The people in the comment section were equally confused when they heard why Kenrick was rejected.

@fittanfun shared, "I have my MBA and was a year away from being a doctor. I also have my financial analyst certificate. Even working as a personal trainer, gyms would not let me have tattoos showing. I live in San Diego." @dbrmnlv commented, "Sounds like you dodged a bullet. If they have an issue with tattoos, just imagine what else would come up." @hellfireandholywater2 added, "My mom has visible tattoos and is in her 60s. My whole life, she told us never to get visible tattoos unless we were planning on only working for her family-owned business. I listened, but my brother didn't. He had trouble getting jobs several times. It sucks and shouldn't be that way."

You can follow Colin Kenrick (@colin_thescarletopera) on TikTok for more videos on lifestyle.