Waitress fired after sharing video of a customer dining with an inflatable doll

A server has claimed that she was fired from her job at a restaurant after posting a video of a customer eating dinner with an inflatable doll.

Tara Bjork, who goes by the handle @t_bjork, took to TikTok on May 27 to share a bizarre video of a man on a date with a doll during her shift at Restoration Hardware's lavish RH Rooftop Restaurant. 

“OK, I’m not supposed to be making TikToks at work, but this calls for it,” the waitress said. “I work at a nice restaurant in Charlotte, and I need you guys to see what just came in the door.”

The clip pans in from a distance to the man seated at a table with his unusual lunch date - who was dressed in a black dress with short blond hair - sprawled out in the chair across from him.

Bjork flips the camera back to her as she covers her face and is left speechless, only saying "I-."

The footage garnered 2.6 million views on the platform with many people flooding the comment section with their reactions.

"Would have died if I came in and saw that haha," one user said, while another added: "Nothing… nothing… nothing prepared me for that lol."

"This needed to be shown. Thank you for your bravery!" a third remarked.

Bjork was fired for recording the diner's odd lunch date with a blow-up doll. Credit: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty

Since posting the clip, Bjork said that she was released from her position for violating the company's policy that forbids employees from filming on the clock.

“[I] knew one of two things was going to happen, it would get no views and I would be fine or, it would blow up and I would be fired,” she told the Charlotte Observer.

In a separate interview with local radio station 96.1, the former waitress defended herself, stating that she couldn't believe that she had witnessed the “unusual dining”.

“What I saw was him trying to ‘seat’ her at the table, which was mortifying, to say the least, because she wasn’t really ‘sitting’ as you can see,” she said. “He proceeded to order some food and order some drinks for them and have a blast I guess.”

The man has since identified himself as Henry Herrara, sharing pictures of his strange date on TikTok.

According to News.com.au, Herrara revealed that he had to face a punishment for losing his fantasy football league so he brought a blow-up doll to the restaurant.

“So, last year we started punishments for the last-place finisher in our fantasy football league,” he explained. “The guy last year had to sit in a Waffle House for 24 hours, and every waffle you subtracted an hour. But we kept seeing that online, so we wanted to do something different.”

Apparently, it was Herrara's idea to be seen in public with the doll, joking she was a “tough date”.

“I kind of assumed it [attracting attention] was going to happen. As I was sitting down, I already saw like six phones recording me,” he said. “I knew sooner or later the video was going to be somewhere.”

Despite losing her job, Bjork said that she “was ready for new opportunities” adding: “It wasn’t too much of a shock.”

Featured image credit: 10'000 Hours / Getty