Belgian Student Fired for Not Smiling Enough: The Story of Samia’s Unfair Treatment at Wailibi

2023-06-15 17:39:00

Barely five days after starting her new student job in Wailibi, Samia, a 19-year-old Belgian, was fired. The reason ? She wasn’t smiling enough. The young woman expressed her “disgust” in the columns of the DH.

“I was really looking forward to working there. I was offered a two-week stay between May 22 and June 26, with the possibility of also staying in July and August,” explains Samia. According to the Brussels woman, everything went very well the first few days. “I supervised the car park, guided and welcomed visitors, and also cleaned up,” testifies the student.

But Samia’s experience in Wailibi did not last long, since after just five days, park officials asked to see her. “When I entered the office, I immediately noticed that the atmosphere was tense,” says the young woman. And she was not mistaken, since the three managers asked Samia to resign immediately. “They had the impression that I didn’t like the job and they thought that I smiled too little,” says Samia.

The student tried to convince her superiors and show them that she liked what she was doing, but it was no use. “While I was signing, the three looked at me without any sympathy,” laments Samia, who really does not understand this decision. “I was always on time and didn’t make any mistakes. I think it’s disgusting that they treat students like that,” complains the young woman.

For his part, Guillaume Morghen, spokesman for Walibi, denies the fact that they pushed Samia to resign: “She worked for us in three different departments. She was quite shy and quiet towards visitors and after a conversation she decided to terminate the contract herself”. The spokesperson assures that they would “never push the employees to leave”.

For Samia, her “shyness” was a pretext. “During a briefing earlier in the morning, they had told us not to expect an extension in the summer because the number of visitors was too low. There were days when we had absolutely nothing to do,” she explains.

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#thought #didnt #smile

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