‘Absolutely Not!’: California Man Caught In Viral Video Going ‘Full Karen’ Over Parking Spot Won’t Lose His Job Despite Public Outrage, Employer Says

Attempts to expose a young man to his employer for his bad behavior with an expectation of him getting terminated backfired earlier this week. The employer of a man seen on a viral video facing off against a female driver over a parking spot shared her reasons why she chose not to fire him despite the outrage from the viral video.

In many cases, people caught on video aggressively engaging in public confrontations face penalties from their employers.

But Deena Saunders-Green chose to take a different course of action after seeing a viral video featuring her employee, Nigel Ford.

A video filmed in Newport Beach, California, showed Ford in a combative altercation with a driver who had pulled into a parallel parking spot. Ford was seen yelling at the driver and slamming his body against the front of her car.

At one point he stands oustide the woman’s driver side window with both hands on his hip. The driver remains inside her vehicle with her windows rolled up.

“This is crazy,” says the woman. “So you’re gonna hit me or what?”

Another woman in the vehicle adds, “Wherever you work is really gonna love this.”

The driver posted the brief clip to her TikTok account on Aug. 5 under username @mmanuelaaaa with the caption, “Tik Tok help me find him to send this to his employer.” Her video drew about 93,000 views. But well-known content creator @thatdaneshguy reposted it to his platforms which drew millions of views.

Saunders-Green employs Ford at a media company in Long Beach that helps disadvantaged artists monetize their work.

When she saw the video, she decided not to terminate Ford based on one moment of outrage. Rather, she assessed his overall conduct and character as her employee.

She posted a video on her own TikTok channel explaining what prompted her decision to keep Ford employed after being bombarded with so many demands to punish him.

“Was it bad behavior? Absolutely. Will I fire him as result? Absolutely not,” Saunders-Green asserted . “Because he shows up on a regular basis to do the work that it takes to work with Black and Brown artists,” adding the company works with several allies who want to use their privileged class to foster systemic change.

She also underscored that the video only shows the confrontation, not the moments leading up to it. She told Business Insider that Ford admitted he got upset after someone hastily took a parking spot he was waiting for.

“The things that people are saying they want to do to this young man because they saw a tail-end of a video,” Saunders-Green said of the heinous direct messages she received about Ford as well as the death threats he got. “Yeah, we’re not OK. I’m not disrupting our operations or [Ford’s] life.”

Her video garnered more than four million views, with many people praising her response and ability to give grace.

“THIS IS A EMPLOYER. This. WOW. You are amazing,” one commenter said.

“This is the most realistic, humanistic, and genuine response I have watched on this app,” another person commented.

Saunders-Green described Ford as “mild-mannered” and “just the nicest guy.”

“We’re just trying to do business in a drastically different way, in a way that I wish our society and our culture and other employers would behave,” Saunders-Green said , adding that the company puts people over profits. “We’re all humans.”

She added that Ford immediately apologized for his behavior and that the company had handled the matter internally.

“We all are struggling. We all have horrible moments where if someone would’ve caught us on video, we would look like freaking lunatics,” Saunders-Green said.

“Stay out of my DMs. I am not firing him,” she continued.

Ford also posted a public apology to his Instagram, saying he “reacted poorly” and hoped to clarify that the incident wasn’t “simply over a parking spot.”

‘I apologized to the girls for making them feel threaten,” Ford said. Adding, “For some context the girls had stolen the spot that we were waiting on for a minute. They sped ahead to steal the spot. I got out of the car with the intention to clear up the confusion. Instead of having a civil conversation, they continued to drive forward and hit me with their car before starting the video. What y’all watched in the video is my reaction to being hit.”

He also denounced Danesh’s depiction of the situation, saying he distorted the conflict and “created his own narrative just go viral,” calling his methods “dangerous.”

However, Ford’s attempt to clear his name backfired in his comment section.

“You just admitted that the story Danesh told was true. You were throwing a fit over a parking space,” wrote on user.

Another added, “I’m sorry, who is the bully? You went full Karen over a parking space. That happened to me once and I was so mad I went home. I didn’t throw myself onto a car. So weird to try and shift blame and justify your bad behavior for getting called out. Just grow and do better.”

‘Absolutely Not!’: California Man Caught In Viral Video Going ‘Full Karen’ Over Parking Spot Won’t Lose His Job Despite Public Outrage, Employer Says