US man fired 2.5 hours into new job after 9 months unemployed over ‘hygiene issues’

A New York man’s first day at a new job lasted just 2.5 hours after he was told he was being dismissed over alleged “hygiene issues” — a reason he strongly disputes.

Chris Smalls, a Manhattan resident, said he had been unemployed for about nine months before securing the corporate role through a temp agency. The position paid more than his previous job, and he said he was looking forward to starting work.

According to his account, Smalls showered the night before his first day and wore a brand-new polo shirt. His morning initially appeared to go smoothly. A supervisor showed him around the office before another employee took over his training.

Later, the supervisor told him to take an unusually early lunch. As he was leaving the building, the temp agency called to tell him his assignment had been terminated due to “hygiene issues”.

Smalls said neither the company nor his supervisor explained what the alleged problem was. He maintained that he was well groomed and said the only issue he could identify was that his trousers might have needed a lint roller.

He also said he asked friends to check whether he had any noticeable odour, and they told him they could not detect one. In his Reddit post, he considered several possible explanations but said he had received no clear answer.

The experience left him particularly frustrated because he had spent months looking for work and said he had already exhausted his unemployment benefits.

His account, posted on Reddit, quickly attracted attention, with users offering competing theories about what might have happened. Some sympathised with him and suggested the hygiene explanation could have been used as a pretext, while others questioned whether there might have been an issue he was unaware of.

Smalls himself said he did not believe discrimination was involved.

As of the latest reports, the company had not publicly explained the specific hygiene concern, leaving the circumstances of his extremely brief employment unclear.