Burger King has responded after Nykia Hamilton, a former employee who went viral for running a restaurant on her own for 12 hours, was fired.
The 25-year-old single mother from Columbia, South Carolina, wowed customers and people on TikTok by cooking food, taking orders, running the drive-thru, and cleaning, all by herself. She was nicknamed the “Burger King mom.”
After Nykia went viral, Burger King addressed her 12-hour shift working alone. It released a statement, “At Burger King, it is our policy that all company and franchise-owned restaurants require more than one Team Member to be working per shift. We are working with the Franchisee of this location to understand what happened and take any necessary action.”
Despite the praise and fame, Nykia said she was later sacked for being late due to her children. She said, “[Burger King] fired me because I’ve been late because of my kids. My kids come first. Y’all don’t pay for no babysitter or nothing.”
Burger King has now responded to Nykia getting fired
@kianolabel The devil won i don’t care no more I can’t do this no more just leave me alone #burgerkingmom #fyp #fyp #singlemomof3
Burger King told the New York Post that the decision to fire Nykia was made by the franchise owner, not the company.
A spokesperson said, “Terminations are the decision of the franchisees who own and operate the BK restaurant. In this situation, the franchisee confirmed that the individual involved is no longer employed due to repeated attendance issues.”
The spokesperson added, “No Team Member should ever be left to run a restaurant alone, even for a short period of time. That’s not how we operate. And we’re disappointed that our policy, which requires more than one Team Member to work per shift, wasn’t followed. While we can’t share more on individual personnel matters, we’re focused on making sure every restaurant, whether company or franchise-run, has the staffing and support needed to take care of our Team Members and deliver the kind of experience our Guests expect.”
Nykia explained why she worked such a long shift, saying, “I’ve got three kids to take care of. I’m a single mother. I still got to feed them, and I’ve got a child about to go to school.”
She has said she prioritises her children, explaining that she couldn’t afford babysitters and wanted to be there for them.
Since her firing, a GoFundMe campaign has raised over $97,000 to support her family.
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