A mom’s Facebook shoutout about her son and his buddies turned sour when it unexpectedly led to them all being fired!
Shakayla Dixon, a former Burger King manager from Clinton, Mississippi, excitedly posted on Facebook about her 15-year-old son, Corderrion Valentine, and his pals snagging summer jobs at her workplace.
She posted about how her son helped his friends get jobs to stay busy during the summer instead of hanging around the streets.
The celebratory post said: “My boy put the whole team on. Summer canceled, they grinding. Work for it, it’ll last longer, you’ll appreciate it better.”
The initiative of these four teenagers didn’t go unnoticed, earning them kudos and even an award from the local mayor’s office for their decision to work through the summer.
“A group of local teenagers from Vicksburg, including Fabian Moore, Corderrion Valentine, Devin Banks, and Felton Moore, decided to take a proactive approach to their summer,” said a statement from Alderman Thomas J. Mayfield’s office. “Rather than spending it idly, they secured jobs at a Burger King in Clinton, Mississippi.”
Dixon told WLBT, “I felt like it was a good thing because we could have really been out doing violence or shooting or killing, but we went out and worked.”
Their story quickly went viral, catching the attention of even high-profile celebrities like Nick Cannon, who praised the boys on Instagram, saying, “Now this is the wave! Staying out of trouble, and getting the bag the right way! This is how it’s done kings.”
This post exploded with over 90,000 likes.
However, their newfound fame backfired disastrously when Dixon was informed by her employer on July 9 that she, her son, and his friends Devin, Felton, and Fabian were all being terminated.
“I got a call from my area manager and my district leader,” Dixon recounted. “She said we don’t want to turn something good into something bad, but we have some concerns. The concerns she had were the fact that Corderrion is my son and how much money they were getting paid.”
Dixon believes that if the decision to fire them was based on policy, it was initially overlooked because it made the company look good.
Following the firing, Dixon started a GoFundMe to help cover the lost wages for herself and the boys, which has already raised over $10,000.
To support them, click here to donate to the GoFundMe.