Worker claims he was sacked after complaining about company's cheap Christmas gift on Twitter

Hussein Mehaidli was stood down within hours of publicly complaining about his company's holiday gift. Photo / CTV News

A Canadian man who lashed his company on Twitter after receiving a cheap bottle of barbecue sauce as a holiday gift claims he was sacked just days later.

Hussien Mehaidli had worked as a general manager at US-based goods distributor Fastenal for six years.

But that changed on December 30 when he was allegedly fired by his manager, news.com.au reported.

The stoush began when Mr Mehaidli and other Canadian Fastenal workers received a $US6 (NZ$9) bottle of barbecue sauce and a wooden barbecue scraper with the Fastenal logo as a Christmas gift.

Speaking to CTVNews, the 27-year-old explained that in previous years, workers received a far more generous goodie box filled with treats ahead of the holidays, which he and his colleagues "always really appreciated".

But after learning that Canadian workers had received the miserly 2019 gift while the US workforce received the usual treat box, the manager took to his anonymous Twitter account – which does not list his name – to vent.

"What kind of multi billion-dollar company gifts it's (sic) Canadian employees barbecue sauce as a holiday gift? Yet the USA employees stuff their face with an actual holiday gift box!" he posted alongside Fastenal's US and Canadian handles and a snap of the gift.

He also complained further after claiming the company's CEO urged staff to "share something from the holiday gift box".

"SHARE WHAT??!! MY BARBECUE SAUCE?? To every Canadian Fastenal employee I am sorry we all had to go through this," Mr Mehaidli said.

He told CTVNews the gift felt like an insult.

"I work really hard. We get pushed really hard to reach our sales goals," he said.

"I felt I gave this company so much and I felt really disrespected when I was given barbecue sauce as a holiday gift."

The day after Mr Mehaidli posted the tweet, he claims he was called by his manager – who referred to him by his Twitter handle – and ordered him to delete the tweet.

But Mr Mehaidli already had after remembering he had previously tweeted a picture of himself that included details of his workplace.

And just 10 days later, he received another call from his manager who he claims fired him.

"My district manager said, 'I fought for you, the regional VP fought for you, but corporate in the US wants you out'," Mr Mehaidli said, adding a follow-up letter explains he was let go for the "violation of standards of conduct policy – acceptable conduct section".

Mr Mehaidli told the network it was tough to be sacked just after Christmas when there were "bills to be paid" and said he believed he "was done very, very dirty".

The story has divided the public, with some agreeing the company was wrong to sack Mr Mehaidli while others argue he brought the situation on himself.

"Calling them out wasn't the issue. He simply tweeted a picture of his disappointing gift. The issue is that he was fired for it. There were no grounds for that. It was a bully move, after US employees were clearly favoured," one Twitter user wrote.

"That's his fault. It was a dumb move to tag his employers. What company is going to keep an employee who publicly disparages them? Next time think twice before you hit send," another argued, while one person posted: "I saw this on the news, while posting it was an error in judgment, I do understand the confusion you most certainly had. I'm very sorry it led to losing your job that seems a bit severe."