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Twitter, YouTube

Twitter activist Tariq Nasheed (pictured right) shared a video of a Holiday Inn worker having a meltdown after a Black hotel guest harassed him about a reservation error.

Tariq described the Holiday Inn employee as “racist” because he began punching himself and hit his head on a computer monitor.

The employee removed himself from an obviously stressful situation by walking away. “You destroyed my life!” he told the customer before leaving.

The angry guest appeared to calm down and seemed to understand that the employee was emotionally overwhelmed. But he posted the video online anyway and it went viral, garnering millions of views.

There was nothing racist about the exchange. In fact, the customer seems to be harassing the employee over a simple mistake.

A Reddit user who claimed to be the employee explained that he had too much to drink after going viral because his meltdown, caused by his schizo-affective disorder, was “documented by a rude customer at an establishment which I was employed.”

The employee said he was driving drunk and he wondered “Why is this happening to me? Why can’t people have basic human kindness and compassion for someone obviously not sound?”

Many of Tariq’s followers assumed the employee was drunk at work when the incident occurred. However, the employee said he was drunk after the video went viral.

One of Tariq’s followers threatened to come and see him when he travels to the United States.

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Corporations such as Holiday Inn who hire people with mental illness should be commended. But such employees should be protected from rude customers.

Someone in management should have heard the commotion and approached the customer to offer their assistance. Another option is to avoid placing mentally ill people in vulnerable positions such as a front desk.

Question: Do you think companies ban recording videos of employees on the job site? Is recording video on private property a violation of employee rights?