A Burger King employee who was dismissed after managing an entire restaurant alone has finally spoken out.
Nykia Hamilton gained online attention last month for covering all positions at a Burger King location in Columbia, South Carolina. Despite her dedication, she was let go just weeks after significantly contributing to the franchise’s earnings.
The mother of three received the shocking news of her redundancy on August 8, a mere four weeks and five days after a TikTok video of her working a 12-hour shift alone went viral.
Just a few days afterward, on July 9, the 25-year-old launched her own GoFundMe account, stating that the fame she achieved was unintentional.
“I am a 25-year-old single mom of 3 who works 2 jobs. I just went viral for working on TikTok. If you wanna contribute, it’s OK. Thank y’all for the support,” she wrote in the description.
“I wasn’t expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids.”
Now, the determined mother, who previously balanced two jobs before her dismissal, updated her page with a message: “Thank yall so much for the support I didn’t expect turn out but I promise I won’t let yall stay tune for videos dropping soon.”
Amazingly, Nykia and her family are nearing a total of $100,000 in donations from supporters, with the current amount reaching $91,205.
Additionally, she has shared her future plans on Instagram after being let go by Burger King.
“Hey, y’all. How y’all doing?” she began.
“I’m really looking for sponsors to start this support group called ‘Hands Helping Hands’, helping any single parent, single mother, single father, anybody out there that needs help, period.
“So anybody want to be a sponsor or want to contribute or want to be part of this movement, please inbox me, hit me up. I really try to make this happen. I try to make this a nonprofit organization to help other people out. Thank you.”
Nykia, who previously explained her dismissal was due to tardiness caused by the challenges of raising three children, was seen wearing a set of gold grills.
In response to Nykia’s dismissal, Burger King released a statement: “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.
“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.
“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.”