Olive Garden Server says she was sent home for wearing white socks

An Olive Garden waitress says management at the store where she works didn’t allow her to work her shift because she showed up to work in white socks.

Demi Austin Looney (@demibabyy2001) ranted about the incident from her car, believed to be right after she was told to leave the restaurant, and uploaded the clip to TikTok, where it has amassed over 250,000 likes as of Tuesday morning.

Viewers who saw her post also shared their own dress code horror stories, while others couldn’t understand why the chain was so meticulous about the colors of employees’ socks.

@demibabyy2001

I can’t

♬ Original sound – Demi Austin Looney

“I just got sent off from work because my socks were… white,” says Demi. “Yes, because everyone and their mother just lose their bloody appetites when they see a pair of white bloody socks. Fuck you grow up! God!”

According to Food Items, as of 2022, Olive Garden’s dress code requires wait staff, bar staff, and bus drivers to wear black shirts (no ties) along with black pants, black socks, and black non-slip shoes.

The Daily Dot has emailed Olive Garden and Demi for further comment.

A TikToker who saw her post responded that this kind of attention to detail is typical of the hospitality industry, calling the industry “hell.” They wrote: “I was reprimanded because my tie was light red instead of dark red like bffr [be fucking for real].”

Another claimed, “My old manager at Jimmy Johns would literally LIFT my pant leg to see if I was wearing black socks…such a power trip.”

Another wrote: “It was like that working in and out but you could only have white socks. One day I had pink socks and was sent home.”

One TikToker replied that they were told that if they wore a color of socks that didn’t conform to the company’s dress code, they could either take off and work barefoot or go home. “This has happened to me too, they say I can either take my socks off and not put them on or I can go home,” they said.

Others followed Demi’s joke that white socks would eliminate her desire to eat.

“I literally ate and you said white socks and I lost my appetite :(” one wrote.

Another quipped, “I actually ate at Olive Garden and saw a waiter wearing white socks and my appetite went away.”

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