…接客用のメイドなんだから、泣くのはともかく笑えなくなるのって相当まずくない…?
ともかく is usually
anyhow / at any rate / be that as it may / setting aside / is one thing
However using it like that the sentence would come out like
Since she's a maid for serving customers crying is one thing but isn't it considerably bad not being able to smile ?
Somehow it doesn't sound right. It makes it appear that the crying thing is rather acceptable while the biggest problem is not being able to smile. Shouldn't this be inverted, that it's one thing not being able to smile but crying is pretty bad ?
When ともかく is between verbs does it change it's priority ? Can someone explain ?